Empires In Orbit - Audiodrome

Experimental music is not for everyone. Empires In Orbit falls under the category of industrial rock, but their Audiodrome album is very experimental. There are strange, dissonant layers that make up every song (programmed by multi-instrumental extraordinaire Gary Mann) while vocalist Fe Malefiz sings both delicately and fiercely over each track.

Several songs on Audiodrome incorporate elements of black metal, industrial, electronica, indie, and ambient music. Some moments hit for me while others missed the mark. I don’t necessarily think that an album like this is supposed to be for everyone; it’s meant to challenge you with its quirkiness and unique choices. The lyrics are vague yet they have hints of existentialism (“I recite the Bible, I recite A.I./Natural artificial/Which one is a lie” on opener “The New Flesh”). Malefiz switches between rapping in German and English on “Cats Eye”, while later tracks like “A Siren’s Call” and “Deja Vu” embrace a more ambient nature. The latter features Malefiz singing gently over a synth riff as she sings lyrics that seem to imply the all-enveloping, sometimes suffocating feeling of falling in love.

The album abruptly switches itself up, going into a nearly cacophonous screaming section on “Smoke Screen”, while only a few songs later going into a polished rock track called “Mother!” that channels lyricism about living in an overwhelming and all-consuming world. “What’s Yet To Come” features an angelic-sounding Malefiz singing while guttural screams punctuate her every word, the devil to her angel. Over its forty minutes, Audiodrome can feel maddening, overwhelming, and overstimulating. There are a lot of pieces here, and even after listening to the record several times over a period of weeks, I still don’t think I’ve absorbed everything. A record like Audiodrome can be an acquired taste, but if you’re open to trying something new and venturing into new soundscapes where others might dare not to venture, then this duo might be for you.