Say Your Prayers

Empire Hideous (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 1, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hell's Hundred Records/Middle Pillar
• ASIN: B00016JF40
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #259,143 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Goth Rock for a New Darkage, February 3, 2004

By 

Crypt "thecrypt777" (Arkham) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Say Your Prayers (Audio CD)

Here is a band that has been around since the late 80's and haven't released a proper debut album until now, although their back catalog is full of independent releases and demos. Myke Hideous has become something of a Deathrock/Goth legend fronting The Misfits for a time, cult death punk/psychobillies Spy Society '99 and the Gothic Metal monster Bronx Casket Co. However his main outlet for creativity was the band that bore his name; The Empire Hideous. During the time that they've stalked cobwebbed Gothic clubs on the East Coast, they have established themselves as one of the finest, most confrontational and perhaps most shocking bands to come from the Gothic underground, with an Alice Cooper-esque Blood & Guts stage show to boot. This is their latest release. Say Your Prayers is a quintessential Goth Rock album and reflects how degenerated "Goth" has become in recent years. With EBM, Techno, and Future Pop polluting the underground, and mainstream bands like Evanescence, Coal Chamber and AFI receiving the "goth" label by a clueless public; Goth has pretty much lost its meaning. Similarly to Punk, it has become a corporate whore. But now with the revivication of Deathrock on the east and west coasts and the Heavy Goth movement in Europe, it seems that the Bats have once again been released and Bela Lugosi (thank God) is still undead. All this now gives bands that have been around for almost 15 years, like The Empire Hideous, an opportunity to become noticed. This album stands in stark contrast to the mislabeled piffle and radio friendly garbage that most consider "goth". This is a Rock & Roll album. It's simple, catchy and straight forward yet dark and apocalyptic, with strong Punk and Post Punk roots, a Metallic edge and a gloomy vibe that is unique to Myke Hideous alone. Most of all, it's honest; something lacking from most mainstream bands today. The "pure" Goth elements are there; shades of Bauhaus, Christian Death, The Nephilim, a lot of Joy Division and maybe a little of The Misfits can be heard. But don't think that this is another one of those Old School revival type albums. This is modern Goth as it should be. Original, unique, non derivative and totally Rock. Lyrically Hideous addresses the human condition intimately. The songs reflect a disappointment and loss of hope in humanity, but a will to stand defiantly in spite of it.
This is not the type of music you'll end up hearing on the radio, but that's ok. What this is is one powerful, moving and chilling rock album. If that sounds like fun to you (as it should) then give this disk a spin.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best true goth albums of the year, May 30, 2004

By 

Karma Sutra "Blip Coordinator" (Alabama) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Say Your Prayers (Audio CD)

Despite what a few disgruntled people have said on here (what bands that have been around for 15 yrs *don't* have members that leave over time? And- Perry Farrell from Janes Addiction has been dj'g at clubs since the late 90's...) Back to the review... Empire has been one of the few larger bands left in the U.S. that play hard goth music. Myke Hideous' voice is a touch between Carl McCoy of Fields of the Nephilim and Andrew Eldritch of the Sisters of Mercy and the music takes the same vein of these two bands.

Say Your Prayers is hard driven goth rock whose songs are intensely beautiful and powerful. As a goth dj, this is one of the best and well produced albums i've heard this year. Standout tracks are 2 Minutes to Midnight, My Mind Plays Tricks On Me and the stellar Heavan Raining Bullets.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seven Reigning Bullets -- And a Bonus Track, June 5, 2005

By 

Brett Steenbarger (Naperville, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Say Your Prayers (Audio CD)

Some of the most memorable contemporary music has come from bands that combine a sinister side with a straightforward rock sensibility. Differently, the Doors, Black Sabbath, Joy Division, Bauhaus, Metallica, Sisters of Mercy, Danzig, and Fields of the Nephilim captured the apocalyptic with raw energy, creating sounds and images of power and portent. This same combination permeates the work of The Empire Hideous, beginning with their self-recorded Victim Destroys Assailant and live album I'm Dead, You're Dead, We're All Dead and culminating in 2003's Say Your Prayers.

To properly appreciate Say Your Prayers, it's necessary to understand a bit of the band's history, which is chronicled in Myke Hideous' book King of an Empire to the Shoes of a Misfit (see my Amazon review). Myke disbanded his Empire following divided priorities among the members, but not before recording their initial full-length albums. These defined the apocalyptic side of the band, with such stellar pieces as "You Follow", "Mr. Barnum", "Power the Empire", and "Thou Shalt Be Done". The live album captured the Empire's sheer energy, particularly on several creative covers, including "My Way", the Frank Sinatra standard and "All I Want", the Cure ballad-turned-rocker.

Say Your Prayers advances these elements with production values that exceed those of the first two albums. Here we have sound and fury joined on such memorable offerings as "Terror Clone", "Two Minutes `Til Midnight", "Heaven Raining Bullets", and "If Only I Kept Dreaming". Seven solid tracks (with a bonus) are situated amidst sound clips that establish the album's mood. (A stark, terror-filled chainsaw-massacre sample is a particularly effective foil to the guitar opening in "Two Minutes"). The seamless blending of raw energy and dark vision is rarely found in the nether regions of the rock world, giving the album a potential appeal well beyond its gothic roots. This achievement is remarkable in light of the events leading up to the album's release, which included Myke's separation from The Misfits and the near-simultaneous ending of a relationship. His ability to draw upon the darkness of those days to create a work of enduring vitality and beauty is a feat of alchemy--a true testament to his Empire's power.