2AGE2EMPIRES - 2AGE2EMPIRES

 Released: December 23

Released originally as a fun little throwaway demo, 2AGE2EMPIRES became a full fledged release late last month and the wild factor on this one is truly epic. Presenting the listener with an incredible blend of dungeon synth, breakbeat, hardstyle, a touch of techno and some of the best video game sampling you can find; it is a genuinely fun listen that had me returning several times. It opens up on a low-key and subdued note with “TOWN,” a sparse track that features some sporadic percussion and heavy reverberated atmospheres, almost giving the impression that were about to get something seething and ambient. But the second track up “R U MAD” throws that immediately out the window as distorted basses and rapid fire hi-hats take the energy up suddenly along with some absolutely insane voice clips, presumably from Age of Empires (but its been too long since I played to know). 

The wild energy keeps going throughout most of the album with a few more downtempo tracks interspersed throughout like “GARRISONED UNITS” and “SENGOKU DRIFT.” These two tracks in particular come across as slower paced but still keep that same level of aggression with the heavy distortion on the drums and sampling. It all comes together nicely and makes for quite and adventure that low-key makes me want to open up an instance of DOSbox and take a trip back to simpler times. I can’t recommend grabbing this one for a couple of bucks on digital. 

But if you don’t mind waiting, the creator of this wild album will be doing a limited edition cassette run with all of the proceeds going to support MIRAC - the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee. They are doing incredibly important work protecting communities from the current persecution they are facing from the federal government and could use any help you can provide. In this case, you’ll also get some awesome music to go along with it.