Customer Reviews

Pierce the Empire With a Sound

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Nathan Burk (of Frodus fame) is my new hero. With his project The Out_Circuit, he has continued to push the envelope on post-punk and experimental music. The Out_Circuit's sophomore release, Pierce the Empire With a Sound is a masterpiece that combines beauty with aggression and is the first album of 2008 to really stand out above everything else.



Pierce the Empire With a Sound is not a conventional album, and pretty much requires you to listen all the way through and enjoy this album as a whole. In today's download culture, we're getting re-wired to only focus on the songs we like and The Album takes on a secondary role to The Single. The Out_Circuit won't make sense to you as just A Single. There is too much going on for you to only enjoy one song. One minute Nathan's vocals are full of post-punk/hardcore aggression, only to turn on a dime to a hushed and relaxed vocal. The Out_Circuit's combination of full band portions of songs to strictly electronic and ambient sounds is something you need to hear, I can't do it justice by describing it.



Another aspect I enjoy about Pierce the Empire With a Sound, is the guests Nathan collaborates with. Collaborations with Dustin Kensrue of Thrice, Sean Ingram of Coalesce, Rachel Burke of Beauty Pill, as well as members of Roadside Monument, The Epochs, Haram, make this album a diverse and satisfying listen.



The Out_Circuit's Pierce the Empire With a Sound is the first great masterpiece of 2008. Groundbreaking and non-conforming to any set genre, it will be something we all will be enjoying and talking about for a long time.



Stand Out Tracks:



"Come Out Shooting"

"The Contender"

"Across the Light"

The Out_Circuit is a one man band of sorts. Ex-front man Nathan Burke of Frodus fame takes you on a mind-shaking journey with his album Pierce the Empire with a Sound. It's not the spazzy discordant sounds of past that you might be used to (and believe me, I would give anything to see Frodus rock it live just one more time). The Out_Circuit is an entirely different sonic beast.

Like the thawing transition between winter and spring, Pierce the Empire embraces both icy and warm electric sounds. So bundle up, but try not to get too comfortable.

Pierce the Empire nicely blends soft ambient electronics, whispery vocals, and chilly wintry sounds with a little hard-edge discordance. Glacially paced numbers like "Passchendaele," "We," and "Across the Light" hauntingly hum like The One AM Radio and Low, while more distorted songs like the bass-heavy "The Contender" and the synth heavy "The Fall of Las Vegas" (that features Sean Ingram (Coalesce) trying to melt The Out_Circuit's arctic atmosphere with his scorching voice) will make you tightly squeeze your hands into fists. It definitely makes for an interesting blend and one of the more fascinating releases I've heard in awhile.

Overall Pierce the Empire is a laidback affair, yet if you give the rhythms time to build and thaw it will reveal a harder unbreakable sound. Most of the release was recorded by Nathan, but he had some friends lend their talents as well: Rachel Burke (Beauty Pill) sings with Nathan on the beautiful "Across the Light," Sean Ingram lends his guttural voice, along with other help from Dustin Kensrue (Thrice), Teppei Teranishi (Thrice), Andy Gale (Haram), and Matt Johnson (Roadside Monument). The opener "Come Out Shooting" might be the highlight for me on the release. Its unhurried bass-in-your-face drone will have Lungfish and Shellac fans turn an ear, but it's the distorted vocals that will grab your attention: "Lift up the burden you carry / Lift up your heart / And if it breaks know that it builds you / And it breaks you / By design." Highly recommended!