''Empire Song'' is a song by English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band

Killing Joke Killing Joke were an English rock music, rock band formed in Notting Hill, London, in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''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. In addition, Coleman has composed orchestral and sound ...

, had become immersed in the

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

, 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, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

. In February of that year, Coleman moved to

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

to survive the

apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...

, 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 Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a 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 ...

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 record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'' with drummer Paul Ferguson 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 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 Glam is a shortened form of the word glamour. Glam or GLAM may also refer to: Film * ''Glam'' (film), a 1997 experimental drama film Institutions * University of Glamorgan, founded in 1913 and merged into the University of South Wales in 2013 ...

band Kitsch) in tow. After spending some time in Iceland, Killing Joke returned to England and began touring and recording.

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