Empirion saw the daylight in 1993. Set up by Oz Morsley, Jamie Smart and Bob Glennie the band became quite famous thanks to the legendary “Narcotic Influence”-EP released in 1994 on Wanted Records. They next signed to XL Recordings unleashing in 1996 their debut album “Advanced Technology”. Bob Glennie lost his battle with cancer in 2005, which also seemed to announce the end of a great band. Oz Morsley moved on setting up Kloq, but since 2010 Empirion came back to life doing live performances. They last year came up as a duo releasing new material featured at the EP “I Am Electronic / Red Noise” and here’s now their first new album since “Advanced Technology”. “Resume” (Dependent) mixes early, analogue sound treatments together with solid EBM bass lines resulting in a high-tech, energetic production for the dancefloors. I talked about “Resume” with Oz and Jamie.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Empirion was already active again since a couple of years now, but when did you finally get the idea to compose new songs and how did the entire writing process of “Resume” happened? 

Oz: We had played a few gigs and festivals over the last few years nd at the beginning of us getting back together we didn’t really have a plan to release music. Further along to way we started to think that we should possibly write some new music because the response was good with the live shows, old and new fans made it clear they wanted new material. We wrote a couple of tracks then we thought we could release an EP, then we wrote some more and started to think we could do an album! At that point we really started to think about what the album should be in terms of the Empirion sound… what would we be writing if we had carried on from the 90’s? How would we sound? It sorted itself out after being in the studio together a few times, we wrote a couple of things that didn’t work, but then we just came together and we found our sound again… we just relaxed and it came back to us… but a more contemporary up to date polished version of Empirion.

Q: We all know what happened with Bob Glennie, but what has been the impact of his loss on both of you and on the band? How did it feel to set up Empirion again without him and tell us a bit more about the ‘new’ line-up? 

Jamie: Myself and Oz hadn’t seen each other for many years after Empirion finished at the end of the 90’s. I got in touch because of a gig offer that had come my way so it was the perfect moment for us to meet up and discuss things. It was cool to see each other again and obviously we had a chance to discuss what people (and us) would think it we restarted the band without Bobby. We came to the immediate conclusion that Bob would want us to take this chance and get Empirion back in the game. It was a difficult one, some friends and family may have not been completely happy with us carrying on, but to be honest everyone has been cool, plenty of encouragement and positive vibes especially now the album is out and it’s gathering force… we’re ok with doing this to keep the name alive, he would be to. 

Q: Tell us a bit more about “Resume”? What kind of work did you had in mind and how did you finally (sound-wise) filled the gap between the early work and “Resume”?

Oz: We wrote some of the tracks for “Resume” a real long time ago actually. We did have a very short period of time where we had to play about with sounds/production to get back in the right frame of mind, but as we mentioned before once we got it back they just started to flow. We didn’t want to write a whole bunch of tracks that we just like the early stuff or even come back with music that didn’t relate to it, so as you can imagine having to make up for 23 years of lost time was quite a challenge. If we’d been writing for all those years we would have naturally and gradually morphed the sound of the band, but this way was a lot harder to produce… having to think about every sound, every riff and every type of style.

Q: When listening to “Resume” I get the feeling to hear songs reminding me to the legendary “Narcotic Influence”-hit and to the 90s breakbeats of The Prodigy, but still other songs with a modern techno/EBM approach and driven by solid bass lines! Is this the essence of “Resume” and can you give a few more details about the sound creation properly speaking? 

Jamie: Yeah it’s a blend of old and new, that’s what we wanted to create for the listeners. The whole feel of the album had to have something for the old-school fans to connect with and also new fans to feel there is a link to what’s going on now in a way. Obviously we were using old technology to create the early music so keeping the same essence was important to us. 

Q: I think “Resume” is an appropriated title for this new album. Another appropriated title could have been “Challenge” as I can imagine it must be not that easy to reactivate Empirion, which had such a successful career! How does it really feel? Is it a challenge or is it just about ‘passion’ and ‘artistic creation’?

Jamie: As mentioned earlier it was a little bit of a challenge, but we just stay true to what we want to write and the rest seems to follow. We can only write what we feel, we’re not interested in doing what everyone else is doing, in some ways we don’t care as it’s not going to change what we want to do.

Q: How do you as artists and band evolve throughout the years? Do you focalize on different aspects or do you have other influences and references when it comes to composition and production?  

Oz: We both feel it’s important to have standards with what we create. Have a balance of old and new as we said earlier, take on some new influences of what’s going on, but ultimately do something as fresh as you can, don’t worry too much or over think it all… push the production as much as you can to deliver the proper sound that people get off on.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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Genre/Influences: Industrial-techno, techno-body-music, techno-rock, breakbeats.

Background/Info: Empirion saw the daylight in 1993. Back in time there were a trio consisting of Oz Morsley, Jamie Smart and Bob Glennie. They became quite famous thanks to the legendary “Narcotic Influence”-EP released in 1994 on Wanted Records. They next signed to XL Recordings (know for The Prodigy) unleashing in 1996 their debut album “Advanced Technology”. Empirion did a support tour for The Prodigy and did a lot of remixes for great names (Front 242, Praga Khan, Cubanate…). Bob Glennie lost his battle with cancer in 2005, which also seemed to announce the end of a great band. Oz Morsley moved on setting up Kloq, but since 2010 Empirion came back to life doing live performances. They last year came up as a duo releasing new material featured at the EP “I Am Electronic / Red Noise” and here’s now their first new album since “Advanced Technology”.

Content: It always is a risky business for a band with such a great past to strike back after such a long hiatus. But those who know the sonic skills of Oz Morsley know his potential. Empirion is back and “Resume” is the ultimate release to join the past with the present. The album has something retro like featuring a few cuts with breakbeats (reminding me of The Prodigy) and the typical raw, analogue sounds, but also contemporary mixing elements of techno, industrial and EBM. This is music to dance! The songs don’t feature that much vocals, but samplings and vocals have been used more as an extra effect.

+ + + : I always get the feeling of losing my ‘objectivity’ when listening to music Oz Morsley has been involved with. But that’s because this guy is a real sonic alchemist. He transforms sounds into gold! This gold has something transcendental and hypnotic. “Resume” is mixing elements reminding me of Front 242 (for some analogue treatments), The Prodigy (for the breakbeats) and Thomas P. Heckmann (for the bass lines), but it’s first of all Empirion! It sounds retro-like and still visionary because there are not many bands in the line of Empirion. This album is total club-power featuring multiple outstanding cuts such as “S.E.T.I.”, “They’re In My Dreams”, “Stepper” and the already known “I Am Electronic” and “Red Noise”. The vocals aren’t the major element of the work and yet they’ve been produced with care; now with robotic effects and then just like a sampling effect.

– – – : I think a few more vocals could have been added now and then, but you don’t hear me to complain!

Conclusion: Empirion is back and that’s damn great news, but when a back strikes back with such a work filled with high-energy and sonic-magic you can only but be thankful. “Resume” will be without a shadow of doubt become one of my 2019’s favorites!

Best songs: “They’re In My Dreams”, “S.E.T.I.”, “Stepper”, “Red Noise”, “I Am Electronic”, “Sideswipe”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.empirion.org / www.facebook.com/empirion.music

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records Read the news on ‘Resume’.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Out later in August is the newest Empirion album by the Essex duo Austin “Oz” Morsley and Jamie Smart. “Resume” is announced as being ‘a stylish hybrid between dance and industrial’ influenced by bands such as Future Sound Of London, Nitzer Ebb and The Prodigy.

Next to the regular album (available here) you can also expect an artbook with a bonus CD (available here) holding 6 bonus tracks, including a remix by Marc Heal of Cubanate.

Empirion was founded in 1993 at the pinnacle of the acid house scene in the UK by Oz Morsely, Jamie Smart and Bob Glennie. Smart, who was at the time touring the world as a tour support DJ with fellow Essex boys The Prodigy, got a track (“Narcotic Influence”) released on the newly created label Wanted Records and followed this up with 3 more techno tracks.

Empirion finally signed with XL Recordings in 1995 and released their debut album “Advanced Technology” in 1996.

Touring America was a bittersweet moment for the band as member Bob Glennie was diagnosed with cancer shortly before the tour. Unable to join the band on the road and in the studio had its effect on the band as a whole and as a result Empirion was in a state of limbo. Bob’s battle with cancer ended in 2005.

While Oz started a new band, Kloq, Jamie stepped away from the music scene for a while before coming back alongside Victory Pill’s Pete Crossman in their joint project Controlled Change in 2001. In November 2010 the duo revived the project and started recording new material. The rest is history! Read the review of ‘Resume’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Empirion, the techno industrial hybrid project from Essex, UK is coming back with a double A-side E.P., “I Am Electronic/ Red Noise”. To be released on vinyl (4 Tracks) and CD (6 track) format on September 21st, this is a first glimpse of Empirion’s forthcoming album “Resume”.

The 2 new tracks come paired with remixes and two exclusive tracks. You can order the CD version right here and the vinyl version right here.

Here’s the video for “I Am Electronic”.

The band formed in 1993 and debuted with the track “Narcotic Influence”. Note that the original line-up consisted of Austin Morsely, Bob Glennie and Jamie Smart. Nowadays the line-up is stripped down to Austin Morsley and Jamie Smart due to the death of Glennie 2005 after battling a brain tumor.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com