Alec Empire – The Destroyer

The first DHR record I bought - because I saw it a music chain store, and knew I needed to buy it.
Even though this is an album release, it's basically made up of several "parts". Firstly, it got all tracks of the Death EP (minus "Necrophobic").
Then there a 3 tracks from a session Alec recorded for John Peel. There is a live recording of "Pleasure is our business". And finally, there are 7 tracks newly produced for the album.

Now let's talk about the sound. I'd like to say this is one of Alec's strongest releases, but, let's face it, *all* of his albums are strongest releases in their own regard.
This is the beginning of Breakcore at its direct source. The style is still visibly tied to jungle and breakbeat music - distorted amens rolling back and forth. Free of the IDM-stuttering or Tech-Step-Plagiarism of the post-2000 "Breakcore" artists.
Yet unlike other 90s Breakcore artists, there is no hard breaks+punk guitars+macho samples formula either.
Instead, the album combined breakcore, hardcore, and maybe even techno sounds, with an enormous array of other genres and music. Samples and influences from musique concrète, obscure documentaries, transgressive movies... dub, ambient, drone, vintage electronica.

At its core, this a very intellectual album with a heady, experimental approach.
Still, at the same time, it's a release of furious, dark and dirty aggression, nihilism, "punk" attitude, and known to set dancefloors into flames with its tunes.
I don't know how Alec managed to bridge this "contradiction", but he did. And this is one more thing that sets the album apart from other "Hardcore / Breakcore" releases in the 90s (or from today).

What can I say ... As I am a structured electronic music guy... This Destroyer kept me in hard electronic music during the nineties...it was so outer worlds and special, when you're into it you'll see the end of the world on Earth and survived it anyhow...post apocalyptic.
A little anecdote: while the New Year's Celebrations to '96 the German music broadcaster Viva II shut down their broadcasting, and the last official magazine this evening shortly before midnight sent off a reissue of the "2 step" Videomix by Alex edited visually by the Great Phillip Virus...one of the best video art I've seen so far ... With some Destroyer tunes of course

'Hard Like Its A Pose' and 'Down With The Shit' where previously released on 'Death Funk - Funk Riot Beat', 'What Are You Talkin About' was previously released on 'No Safety Pin Sex ‎- No Savety Pin Sex E.P.', and the rest of the tracks where previously released on 'Alec Empire ‎– The Destroyer' (DHR LP 4, 1996).

Essential digital breakcore!!!

Harsh foundations. Noisy as fuck - Empire style. Maxed out, jacked up on pills and sleepless nights. This could be your entry drug into gabber, digital hardcore, fringe jungle and most definitely breakcore!

Amazingly brutal release. combining the aggro of punk, the energetic styling of rave and old jungle and a very fetal essence of breakcore and you get the destroyer. from the intro of the Empire's popular sampling of 3x3 eyes, It opens with "We all die!" which is a no holds barred attack on the ears renders the listener into a violent world of molotov cocktails, before leading to the dance floor for "Suicide". the aggro continues thru out, leading up to "The Peak", which is nosebleedingly fast, with the amen break never sounding so hardcore!

amidst the chaos, the samples are quite interesting too- halfway thru the ultimately aggressive "The Peak" Empire took time to sample scumpunk GG Allin's final interview on american television, cutting in the finest bits of the Gravediggaz's first LP and various screams from the german dub of Child's Play. Definitely one that set the bar. own it.

[quote Alec's liner notes]"I hate people who romanticise [sic] death - this is not what it's all about! At the end of all this we all gonna die and that's it! Not more and not less! You f**king religious idiots stupid like shit".[/end quote] Just purchased this CD earlier this week, haven't got the time to listen to it yet, but this quote gave me at least an hors d'oeuvre laugh out loud value for my money. Man Alec, how hardcore can you get?

It is indeed a cool release. I even took a time to get used to the music but it is very nice, and the names of the titles are cool. I got familliar with the track "Suicide" and after listening I was very curious to the whole album and I am happy to buy it soon.

Without a doubt one of the most blood boiling and angry records i have ever heard, not even topped by the intensity of many extreme metal acts, this album is his finest solo release beyond a shadow of a doubt. Many claim this to be the first "breakcore" album, and if this is true. breakcore's first release is also it's finest.

An absolutely raw and groundbreaking release. Such an uncompromisingly intense album must have been revolutionary in its day. Works rather well because of its minimalism and primitivism, a real punk jungle album. As intense as any modern "powernoize" album with the wreckage of rave/jungle culture to give it a tasteful edge. Alec always appears more focused and balanced when working solo as opposed to his ATR outings, especially before ATR's demise (when his sound took many of ATR's pretensions), and this is the most shining album I've seen from him.