Artist: Empire CD Title: "Hypnotica" Reviewed by: Nick Martinelli Reviewed: 4/22/02

     Powerful melodic music that tips on the extremes of radio Heavy Metal and Hard Rock.  Priceless vocals, screaming guitar work and one hell of a rhythm section barely begin to give credit to this hard rock powerhouse.  After hearing the first seconds of "Fool in Love”, I WAS HOOKED! Empire's "Hynotica" sets new standards for hard rock and melodic metal.  They bring new life to an already flourishing new host of European rock bands. Lion music knew what they were doing when they signed this rock super group. Empire gets my vote for best Lion artist in a band format.  On a scale from one to ten, I give this monster 100! Every song kicks ass! Can you ask for anything more? Well maybe a second record...(HINT HINT)
     Track two "Fool in Love" is Heavy Metal anthem for sure!  With super catchy vocals that will have you singing along for days at a time. Rolf Munkes’s guitar playing is ballistic!  He really knows how to write a driving guitar riff that will knock you off your seat. His leads are amazing, very melodic and tasty. The lyrics in this song are real cool; crank this one up while driving.

     "Into the Light" track three, has a guest vocal appearance by one of Heavy Metal's greatest singers Mark Boals. He toured and recorded with Yngwie many times and still does. Anders Johansson also made a drum appearance on this track. If you've heard him before you'll know exactly what to expect. If not, what planet have you been on all this time!?  This track is defiantly one of the album highlights; it's a hard edge number that brings back the old school Heavy Metal anthems we all know and love. Munkes’s guitar playing is hotter than hell on this one. His infectious rhythm guitar playing will tear the paint of your walls for sure.  His leads are screaming throughout the song.  Keep your ears peeled for all his tapping and insane fills.  The main lead just rips, with speed and melody combined for a system overlord. In my opinion, this track put the album on the top five list of best releases of the year.

     "Your all I'm Looking For," is another ball kicker with a mega driving guitar line and searing vocals.  The main melody line is superb and this is another sing along number.  Even your girlfriend or wife will love this one, even if they aren’t metal or rock fans already.  After hearing this track, I thought to myself... “These guys should tour with POISON! It's got that total radio metal feel to it.”  The vocals by Lance King totally kicked my butt.  He has such a great range and sense of melody. The leads are amazing and I love Rolf's phrasing techniques in this track with out a doubt.

     "Spread My Wings" song five starts out with a super cool effects driven guitar intro.  The song is a slower paced number that will please your ears every second. Intelligent, creative lyrics set the stage for this song.  Rolf's acoustic guitar playing is very melodic and catchy.  Half way through, the song goes up a notch bringing in the distorted guitars. Great song overall, and I dug the keyboard playing too. They had that 70's ish organ feel that added more depth and texture to the song.

     Track six "Bad, Bad Boy" opens with a huge guitar lead intro that is melodic and very interesting at the same time. The song is a medium paced number that has tons of killer palm muted guitar fills and licks. Along with that, this track has to be one of the best technical guitar songs on this release.  Even though the main riffs are bar chords, the added accents and fills add a more complex sound to it.  The main lead line has some hot ascending neo classical feeling repeating runs. You get a good taste for Rolf Munkes’s speed playing in this lead. (Note... He can play much faster than that mind you...)

     "Here I Am" track seven is another hard hitting rock anthem that has some of the most catchiest chorus lines on the album. The main guitar riff locks in for a solid groove.  I really like the guitar fills that pop in and out throughout the track.  Another highlight are the mega huge chorus lines.  This is a very radio friendly track for sure. The song also builds very well, with each part leading to that big chorus I keep mentioning.  "Here I Am" is very exciting and powerful and its one of my favorite songs from the cd for sure. Please pay close attention for the interesting lyrics as well.

     Track eight "I Will Always Be There" is another radio sensation hit for sure.  Rolf Munkes’s guitar playing is extremely powerful and you’ll be amazed by the vocal performance by Mark Boals.  I really dug this medium paced song, the vocals and guitar lines totally blended together perfectly. The main lead section is a super powerful WAH WAH drowned insane bend fest!  Cool choice of notes for sure. The song is very huge sounding, its layered and textured nicely.

     "A Different Sign" song nine is a nice little instrumental number, with killer keyboards and very melodic guitar lines. It reminds me of watching one of the movie sequences from a sci-fi type computer game, where your walking across Mars's barren waste land, waiting to be attacked by alien monsters. I just got a very spacey or sci-fi feeling from this number.

     Song ten "Shelter" is another heavy guitar drenched song. The main riff is just plain evil!  Lance King's vocals go right along with them as well. He has a great vocal range, and I really dig his voice. The main lead is monstrous as well. It opens with a huge bend phrase and then Rolf hammers ya down with some speed licks. His technique is amazing, I'm so glad I was introduced to him via Lion Music. Along with that, I can't wait to check more albums from this guy.  I highly recommend him to all you guitar nuts out there.

     "Back To Me" song eleven, is another powerful rock anthem packed with hot guitar playing and screaming singing.  This song has a very driving feel to it; the progressions from verse to verse are flawless. Rolf's lead is very melodic, opening with a stop and go type idea, where he revolves around 2 techniques.  Then he finishes it off with some tasty speed licks.  All in all Empire gave you another song that you won't soon forget.

     "Another Place, Another Time" track twelve is a groove driven number that will get you rocking for sure.  It has the 80's glam metal feel to it.  Like Cinderella meets Slaughter.  Minus the neon spandex and aqua net!  The drums and bass really give it that big 80's feel to it.  The main lead is smokin', it’s short, but sweet. Empire couldn't have picked a better song to end this masterpiece first release.

     All in all, I'm left speechless.  Empire's "Hypnotica" is one hot record that every rock / metal fan should own.  Strong musicianship, great song writing and amazing production left me numb.  "Hypnotica" is packed with catchy guitar lines, wide ranged melodic vocals, huge drums, pounding bass lines, and some interesting keyboard playing.  Lion music knew what they were doing when they inked the deal with these guys!  The artists really made this album a huge success, with smokin' playing from Rolf Munkes; hard hitting vocals from Lance King; Neil Murray's bass playing was some of the most pounding and rhythmic playing I've heard in a while; Gerald Kloos contributed some awesome drum work that keep that upbeat feeling throughout each song.   I also enjoyed the guest appearances from Marc Boals, Anders Johansson (drums), and Don Airey (Keyboards).  They also helped this record sound larger than life. Mark Boals has been around the metal scene since the 1980's and continues to contribute hard-hitting vocals year in and year out. Its nice to know that there are new bands coming out that know how to write killer songs.

     In closing, I would like to ask Lion Music to get Empire to release another CD as soon as humanly possible!  This CD is defiantly in my top 10 favorite CDs of all time!  I can just imagine how great the next one will be.  So go pick it up at Lion Music's Online Shop!  Don't forget to check out Empire's Official Website