''Empire Song'' is a song by English
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...
band
Killing Joke. It was released in 1982 by
E.G. Records as the first single from their third studio album, ''
Revelations''.
Production and release
By 1982, members of Killing Joke, especially singer
Jaz Coleman
Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman (born 26 February 1960) is an English singer and musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the lead vocalist and keyboardist of post-punk group Killing Joke.
Coleman is known for his unique raspy baritone voic ...
, had become immersed in the
occult, particularly the works of
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...
. In February of that year, Coleman moved to
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
to survive the
apocalypse, which Coleman predicted was coming soon.
[Hämäläinen, Jyrki "Spider" (2020). ''Killing Joke: Are You Receiving?'', p. 64-83. Milton Keynes: New Haven Publishing. .]
"Empire Song" was released in March 1982 by E.G. Records as the first single from the band's third studio album, ''Revelations''.
Polydor
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States ...
also released "Empire Song" as a single in Ireland. It reached No. 43 in the UK Singles Chart that same month.
As a result of Coleman moving to Iceland, "Empire Song" was performed at ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...
'' with drummer
Paul Ferguson
Matthew Paul Ferguson (born 31 March 1958) is an English rock drummer, best known for his work in the post-punk/ industrial group Killing Joke and cult English punk band Pink Parts. Following a stint as the drummer with the London-based Matt St ...
on vocals. Because Coleman was absent, a dummy was placed in front of a keyboard, while the other three members played.
Guitarist
Kevin "Geordie" Walker and bassist
Martin "Youth" Glover followed Coleman and moved to Iceland later that year. There, Coleman and Walker worked with musicians from the band
Þeyr
Þeyr () was an Icelandic New wave music, new wave band from the early 1980s.
Origins
The origins of Þeyr date back to the late 1970s when singer Magnús Guðmundsson, bassist Hilmar Örn Agnarsson and Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson (drums and synthesi ...
in the project
Niceland. After a few months, Youth decided there was no indication of the apocalypse, and moved back to England. Youth then began the band
Brilliant with Ferguson, but the latter defected and traveled to Iceland to rejoin Killing Joke with new bassist
Paul Raven (previously of
Neon Hearts and the rock/
glam band Kitsch) in tow. After spending some time in Iceland, Killing Joke returned to England and began touring and recording again.
Track listing
;Side A
#"Empire Song" – 03:19
;Side B
#"Brilliant" – 04:00
Charts
References
{{authority control
Killing Joke songs
1982 songs
Songs written by Jaz Coleman
Songs written by Geordie Walker
Songs written by Youth (musician)
Songs written by Paul Ferguson
Song recordings produced by Nick Launay
E.G. Records singles