BUILDING AN EMPIRE

Some of us in the electronic ether have known of Nicolas Chapel's musical aspirations for nearly half a decade, and we've all been waiting patiently. Well, after far, far too much waiting, the album has finally arrived and is somehow even more amazing than I ever expected it to be.

Many will rank songs individually and give descriptions of each in an attempt to review an album, but this format does no justice to Building an Empire. This record is an holistic entity unto itself, and really must be taken as a whole from beginning to end. The emotional journey that the music will take the listener on mirrors that of Nic with every passing incredibly personal minute of music.

The music is acoustic and mellow; the music is heavy and bludgeoning. The must is absolutely beautiful with its sweeping string arrangements; the album is eviscerating at its harshest. The music is absolutely moving. I've long described Chapel's music the following way: listening to Demians is like that first moment of realization after an incredibly heavy burden has been lifted from you-- that moment in which you realize that you are free of your blight and can do anything you want to do if you just put your mind to it. Those are the moments in which I, personally, have felt happiest in my entire life. It is for that quality in this music that I find myself smiling like an idiot and wondering what the other people on the train think of me.

I have recommended this album to everybody I know and love. Those who don't buy it for themselves will be getting it for the next viable gift-giving occasion. Building an Empire somehow exceeded every incredibly unrealistic expectation I had for it and has completely taken over my life since I first heard it as an Amazon mp3 download when it was first released. I feel somewhat uneasy about dolling out such a title, but this is easily one of my five favorite records of all time. It may well be number two on the list-- if only for the sentimental attachment that I have to number one.

Buy this album for yourself and everyone you know.

Absolute 10/10