Alec Empire and The Atari Teenage Riot Legacy

Back in the day, I was always ambivalent about Atari Teenage Riot. Were they extreme for extreme’s sake? Did I enjoy having my ears literally pierced by the shrieking, shouting, terrible boombast of their ‘digital hardcore‘ style? Were they a pioneering band or just one that didn’t know restraint?

I had been ambivalent until I read that, rather than sampling Slayer for all the guitar and drum parts as I believed, Alec Empire, the band leader, played all the guitar. This shifted my perception of the band entirely, from a cut'n'paste techno act with vocals to a set of vocalists centered around a main producer, much like Prodigy. From then on, the Empire has had my uncomplicated respect as an artist. I still listen to ATR, whenever I don’t have a headache (and maybe, somewhat masochistically, want one).

Alec Empire, the aforementioned producer/mastermind of the legendary band, has been continuing his solo career, collaborating with artists like Merzbow (メルツバウ) and El-P. Like in ATR, Alec still doesn’t know restraint; however, now that manifests, rather than in 300 BPM headkillers, in a diversity of sound matched by only a handful of other solo artists (most of which I have or will mention on this page). Hip-Hop, House, Metal, Ambient, and of course, Hardcore Techno all have their place within Alec’s prolific library of works. This means that, while the diversity is certainly a great thing, Alec himself is still probably going to be the only one to enjoy all of it. Fortunately, unlike with other diversity-prone artists such as Beck, Alec knows how to relegate each style to its own place. So you may enjoy or hate his albums selectively, but you won’t need to skip any tracks on those you like. Capische? < The Futurist >is his most recent offering, and it makes a good starting point to delve (wetf that means) into his works. I don’t need to write a full review since thats already been taken care of.

Alec Empire - New World Order (from 'Intelligence and Sacrifice)


Atari Teenage Riot - Too Dead For Me (from '60 Second Wipeout):