EMPIRES NEVER LAST

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With "Empires Never Last", Galahad has released an album that probably will end up in quite a few top 10 of 2007 lists at the end of the year.

The english veterans have combined mood tunes with several very strong songs here, with a soundscape that is really fascinating.

At the most mellow you may associate the music with early Marillion and late 70's Eloy, while the harder parts stretch out towards prog metal territory.

And the mood of the album is a dark one, filled with sadness, grief and anguish - and something undefinable "more".

As for instrumentation, the synth is central in adding to melodies and soundscape, as backdrop or floating above the other instruments in the soundscape. The guitars are dark, polished but somewhat gritty, and played so that you'll hear each individual tone to a shorter or longer extent rather than plain riffing. Rhythm section is energetic and hard, often played in a fashion reminding of prog metal. And the vocals are used as an instrument in it's own right as well.

My conclusion: Strong album, and should be checked out.

A few weeks ago I wrote a review about Galahad their new DVD entitled Live In Poland - Resonance. I was delighted about the exciting prog by this current line-up, the last time I heard Galahad was in the mid-Nineties during a triple prog concert in Holland with a very disappointing Galahad performance so I decided to focus on other bands. This new album is produced by guitarplayer Karl Groom who played in the neo-prog bands Casino and Shadowland (with Clive Nolan) and mainly with prog metal formation Threshold along guest work on records from Mercy Train, Strangers On A Train, Peter Gee (Pendragon) and Tracy Hitchings (Landmarq), most musicians had a contract with SI Music, allied to SI Magazine, the Dutch progrock magazine I worked for many years in the Nineties.

In general the 7 compositions sound bombastic featuring sumptuous keyboard layers, propulsive guitar riffs, howling and fiery guitar soli and expressive vocals (from warm and dreamy to ominous and dramatic). The captivating elements in Galahad their new sound are the great tension and lots of musical surprises: an intro with fragile piano runs, then a compelling and bombastic climate and a break with sensitive electric guitar play in Termination, an intro with exciting sequencing, splendid guitarwork, excellent vocals and a majestic church-organ sound in the alternating and emotional I Could Be God (quite cynical view on mankind and religion), a swinging bass, mellow Fender Rhodes piano and a bombastic final part with fiery guitar in the captivating titletrack and wonderful keyboards (from fragile to sparkling piano, bombastic synthesizers and soaring Mellotron) and a closing section featuring howling guitar runs in de alternating final song This Life Could Be My Last.

I am impressed by Galahad anno 2007, what a compelling musical experience, way more interesting and original than the pleasant but predictable neo-prog like the debut CD Nothing Is Written!

While the "towne" vicar was sipping his afternoon tea, munching on some crumpets, the choirboys were engaged in a spirited cricket test with Anthony Phillips' squad, in the field beyond the garden wall. Meanwhile, in a nearby burg's (now, would that be Dorset?) most relevant "Ye Olde." pub, a dedicated band of old 50 something progfools, all expert musicians, decided that they are finally agreeing to progress instead of treading in the same progressive lagoon. Because the true maxim of our current times is most assuredly "Empires Never Last" and since new ones inevitably always appear (anyone learning mandarin?), why not go for the gusto! Galahad has a long history, one of the early stalwarts of the neo genre, together with IQ, Marillion, Pendragon, Jadis, Abraxas, Clepsydra and Arena, pushing out excellent albums like the classic "Sleepers", the puzzling "Following Ghosts" and the edgier "Year Zero". Now, they have hit their peak with a very rare and hence, very laudable diversion from their usual musical philosophy, proposing an outright punchier, electro-drenched set of highly political commentary, desperately needed in our times of ultra-egoism fueled by total disinterest. Keyboardist Dean Baker seems to be the catalyst of this sudden surge of power, giving an appropriately aggressive platform for guitarist Roy Keyworth to kick into some shimmering forays, full of electric verve and élan. Baker's synths are a very modern version of the prime TDream aural tapestries, pinging and ponging, washing and cascading, gurgling and bubbling. The material is razor sharp, concise and hard hitting, egged on by a tight yet unpretentious rhythm crew and carves out a podium for unheralded lead lung Stuart Nicholson to step up to the microphone and really get into it and snarl a tad. Their DVD "Resonance" live in Poland I have already drooled over (See review), as it offered five of the seven main tracks of this, at the time upcoming, studio album. Even that shows some progressive balls, releasing a live album with new, not yet released studio material! Not too many have dared to be that bold, especially in the 70s where big record companies would nix any hint of entrepreneurship in the bud! The stupendously appropriate cover art depicts the famous raising of the conquering Soviet Army's red flag in war-shattered Berlin, when that "evil empire" felt it was eternally invincible. Amusingly, the hammer and sickle replaced by the letter G. (Err.. God, Goodbye or Galahad, hmmmm) .One empire down and in order to appear politically correct and current, who do the lads go after; well I guess you must be "bushed"? If IQ's stunning anti- war, anti-Cheney epic "Harvest of Souls" was compelling enough, Galahad take it to an even more satanic level, to say the least. There is bile, venom, anger, doom, despair and sarcasm, spewed out without guile or rancor. The stirring opener "De-Fi-Ance" begins with some plaintive female vocal and some explicative lyrics "Just because we are not youngsters, just because we are not hip, doesn't mean we are less valid", all blanketed in an aggressive musical wrapper. Yes, Galahadlads, yes!!! "Termination" also conveys a rather gloomy outlook on the consistent stupidity of the human race, remindful of one of Einstein's more progressive quotes:" There are two infinites, the universe and stupidity, but I am not too sure of the first one". You got it, Alberto! Dead on! "I Could Be God" sets the "general" tone from the very first beat (or is it byte?), thrashingly playful rhythm guitar raising the pressure to unsustainable heights, pounding, hammering, bombing with cruise missile like precision, pleading for the rage to explode. "Sidewinder" smokes with the same fury as a Top Gun dogfight, full of military innuendos, and an anthemic drive, the anti-war message as blunt as an exploding warhead: "It's a dangerous path we are taking; beware of false prophets spinning yarns of deceit"! Enough to give the Veep heart tremors! "Memories from an African Twin" assuredly addresses the endless African enigma, where life is seemingly cheap, a few grains of diamond dust from Sierra Leone, blood-soaked Hutu machetes, empty sacks of flour in Darfur, etc.. and the lyrics go like this:" ba, ba, ba, ba etc.." Pretty sad. The dizzying acme is the glowing title track, (you can almost hear the phosphorous canisters fizzing and crackling in the background), a blistering attack with no holds-barred, where Nicholson positively unleashes some of the most vitriolic vocals in prog, sheer genius coated in abject anger, with fiery repetitive words echoing the pounding chorus, "Always remember, Empires never last, they always crumble and fall". How true! The disc ends mercifully on what sounds like a typical soldier's lament, "This life could be my last", a cat has nine but how many lives does a trooper have? They are trying to bring decency and (cough) democracy to people who have been rejecting it for thousands of years, very valiant but very hopeless ("I know that there's no sense in much that we do.") . The photo of a young lad in full flying ace outfit, smartly saluting is the perfect depiction of the roll of honour gone into making this amazing recording. Galahad took their time to unleash their WMD (Weapon of Mass Devotion) and it can sit in my silo anytime, occasional wisps of steam rising from its O rings .. Masterpiece Neo sidewinder..honing right up your flaming... 5 Migs

One can easily get lost in hundreds of contemporary Prog band, confusing names, styles and musicians. There are bands that hang on somewhere near, you may even know their names but never heard their music. Maybe one of it could become another favourite band for you…who knows? I never waste a minute and grab every unknown Prog CD that I can - that’s exactly how I fell in love with ENGLAND, MAGENTA, MINDGAMES and many others. And that’s what I recommend to do FOR EVERYONE – don’t hesitate, try everything and be grated.

“Empires never last” is my second effort to get into GALAHAD. “In Moment of Complete Madness” once reviewed by me was a good but for Neo-collectors-only album. This one is quite another in mood (closer to Progressive Metal IMHO!), darker, stronger, better recorded, with killer epics like “I Could be God”, title track and “This Life could be the Last”…but it didn’t click on me EMOTIONALLY. Still I’d like to recommend it to IQ, MAGENTA, DISCIPLINE, ARENA, APPLE PIE etc fans, but GALAHAD seems to be a “just-for-the-record” experience for me. Seriously, don’t take it as offence, but it happens in different ways – some are blown away, some are totally ignorant after trying. But it’s better to try than to not, I insist!!!

Musically "Empires" is a pretty darn good listen with a dynamic sound that is categorized as neo-prog on this site although that categorization makes the band's vocalist Stuart Nicholson bristle a bit. He describes their sound as much heavier with industrial and electronic influences and more progressive in that they really try to change with each album. The playing is very solid, most notably the guitar work and the ever present keyboards. The vocals are also very inspired and just about perfect on the ears in every situation. The album is very ambitious for a group that's been around for so many years. The content deals with power in various forms and heavy social and political topics. Much of it burns with anger and disgust through Nicholson's scathing delivery.

Here are Stuart's comments about the thematic content of this album: "ENL works on several levels, it's up to the listener to interpret the lyrics how they want. Yes, there is a certain link to politics and Governments within the song, but it is also about individuals who build empires in the work place or even at home. Therefore, I guess it is socio-political lyric. Basically the song is saying nothing ever lasts in this World and we'd be fools if we thought otherwise. I like to keep abreast of what's going on in the World at large and have my own opinions just like any other individual and, yes, these opinions do occasionally spill over in to the song writing. But we are not a political band as such, no." [Stuart Nicholson, interviewed by Giannis Tsakonas for Metal Perspective magazine, Sept. 2006]

"Defiance" begins with beautiful female choral vocals setting a mood of anticipation before Stuart growls out his DE-FI-ANCE opening, then the mood builds with good drumming and keys. In "Termination" Stuart trades off very effectively with the female vocals as the band sound really picks up with heavy guitar. "I could be God" is the longest track at 14 minutes. The vocals are dramatic and Fish-like and there's a heavy Fugazi era feel though the drumming is more crisp and metallic. A quiet part around 5 minutes leads into excerpts of a Dr. Martin Luther King speech followed by electric riffing and later a solo. It's a good song the first few times but doesn't quite sustain the length after many plays. "Sidewinder" is also longer than it needs to be and features the predictable excerpts of George Bush greatest hits for your amusement, but has another great solo at the end. "Memories from an African Twin" is one of the album's nicest moments with the anger dropped briefly for some nice acoustic and electric guitar melody and uplifting wordless vocals.

Then comes the powerful title track "Empires Never Last" which is a cool song and another of the album's highlights. The clever verses speak of Little Miss Glory, a dirty, lying, soulless, back-stabbing pariah who is destined to "crumble and fall." My first interpretation was that she represented America as Bush is referenced in the track Sidewinder but this is not the case. Rather, LMG is the portrait of an individual, a seriously messed-up one. While I have never seen Galahad perform live I can guarantee this title track is going to bring the crowd to their feet singing along, it's just a great song to highlight an album these guys should be very proud of. The closer "This Life Could Be My Last" is an emotional and pleasant middle of the road rocker with a well-crafted chorus.

I don't think "Empires" is quite the masterpiece that others do but it is very enjoyable and I would recommend it easily to neo-fans of bands like Arena and Marillion and to prog-metal fans as well. The booklet features complete lyrics and provocative photos. 3.5 stars.

I hope this band will last!

Don't you like when a no-name-out-of-the-blue band steals the show? This is the case here. Galahad pulls out the big guns (a la Pepper's Ghost) to impress the gallery and they'll get new fans with this album.

The intro has to be heard: starts with a nice female chant, changing into a scary revolution riot from the streets of Pekin to a full Threshold / Pallas / Arena song with a darn good chorus. Whoo!

The rest is still going in the same polically-engaged-anti-Bush lyrics, with nice melodies and always that ragged and edgy new néo progressvie attitude. Listen to Termination, I could be God or Empires never last and you'll be surprised by their crunchy sound and crisp production. This sounds big and loud!

Again, think of a mix of Threshod (approach of metal and rock), Pallas (vocals) and Arena (song structure). A good blend of this and that, and on top a nice and very catchy instrumental song; sing along!

A huge surprise and total run of your money, a good purchase and a round of applause for the superb package.

A nice prospect for album of 2007.

Uhmm.finally .an excellent neo prog album!

I dunno is it accident or not but for sure I knew the name of this band for the first time from my colleague neoprog Bowo Neo who has adored neo prog side of prog rock since his love with Marillion (Fish era, of course!). By the time I knew the band name I was not challenging him on whether the band is originating from GBR or other country like Germany. It does not matter at all because finally I knew this excellent album by Galahad which indeed a GBR band. The first time I listened to this album, it blew me away at first spin. I checked the reviews on the net and I found many praises for this latest album by veteran prog band who has been in prog industry since 1985! No wonder that finally they could perfect their composition as excellent as this album.

Through this album Galahad invited the contribution of Karl Groom, guitarist of Threshold. No wonder that this album has some flavor of progressive metal especially in the use of riffs. Karl is also credited with co-production and engineering and the overall sound of the album.

The album kicks-off wonderfully with an angelic a cappella Part 1 of "De-Fi-Ance" performed by Tina Groom, Sarah Quilter and Tina Booth (used to be with Magenta). This serves as a wonderful overture that sets the tone of the overall album beautifully. It moves in great mood to the screaming male vocal which remarks the intro of Part 2 of "De-Fi-Ance". I can imagine if this track is performed live it must be a great opening especially the music blast that follows the creaming vocal saying "De-Fi-Ance!!!!" which comprises like an opening of death metal music. What happen is then the follow-up music which comprises heavy riffs by bass guitar overlain beautifully by a long sustain keyboard work. Oh my God! I love this segment very much. When it reaches minute 2:33 I like the guitar solo part in neo prog mood. Well, my friend. this is it! This is the kind of neo prog music that I have expected and dreamt of so far.!! It reminds me to PALLAS music of their album "The Dreams of Men" and also "The Cross and The Crucible" . I cannot believe that I finally I find the music that I have been dreaming so far. This is really great!

It then moves seamlessly to the next track "Termination" (7:14) with excellent singing style, moves along smoothly with the music and sometimes the style of singing is in distant voice that makes it a good combination. The rhythm section comprises soft guitar riffs that remind me to progressive metal but it's combined nicely with touchy melody. In the middle of the track there is a simple piano touch in break mode followed later by augmentation of guitar. The back ground music is symphonic as indicated by long sustain keyboard work.

"I Could Be God" is a relatively long track (13:58) with multiple styles starting with a great keyboard effects followed by dynamic drumming and heavy guitar riffs. It's really an excellent opening. "I could be God.. I could be the devil." the vocal enters nicely while the keyboard still producing nice repeated notes at background. At 1:55 the music changes suddenly into another style while it then returns back to the original style. At 5:12, after the high tone music, it suddenly turns into silent break with ambient keyboard work in spacey nuance. The vocal line enters beautifully in mellow style with no drumming, only keyboard at background. I enjoy this part, really! Especially when there is a male narration. It's really COOL man! At 9:10 the music moves in high tone with long sustain keyboard solo which creates great nuance. Especially the drumming is providing great accentuation for the beat.

The remaining tracks are all excellent tracks with "Sidewinder" (11:00), "Memories From An African Twin" (4:02), "Empires Never Last" (9:05), and "This Life Could Be My Last" (10:23). The compositions are really tight. The last track is a simple one with mellow style but it has nice melody.

Overall, I am so happy enjoying this last album by Galahad and I urge those of you who love Early Marillion, Pallas, IQ MUST own this wonderfully crafted album. The cd sonic quality production is also excellent. I have no major complaint with this album and I rate this album very close to masterpiece, or 4.75 of 5 stars. Again, MARILLION (this era of Marillion with Hogarth) should have learnt from GALAHAD on how to make a great neo prog album, and not moving into a direction-less music like their latest "Somewhere Else" which is going nowhere.Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

After the dramatic change of pace incarnated in their superb gem "Zero Year", Galahad has to meet the challenge of prolonging the momentum of musical creativity. eventually leading to "Empires Never Last", a fantastic statement of all that remains vivid in the current neo-prog scene. This is a manifestation of prog-metal driven neo-prog, not unlike Arena from "Immortal?" onwards. But as the band led by Nolan and Pointer seems to be stalling in some sort of formulaic writing strategies, Galahad's music has a refreshing focus to it. This album really achieves the kind of greatness that the band had been confidently aiming at for years: if "Zero Year" had the band exploring a one-occasion eclectic approach, this album is more related to "Following Ghosts" backwards, yet reaching a solid maturity. The two "De-Fi-Ance" preludes set a very bombastic mood, beginning with a Celtic-driven female chanting, going on with an exhibition of empowered metal-friendly prog. Without flashing solos but rough guitar riffs and splendid keyboard layers, the rhythm section seems to take center stage with its solid foundation. 'Termination' confirms this sonic trend, adding some pertinent industrial adornments. The same can be found in the 13-minute long 'I Could Be God' from the very start. When we reach the 4-minute mark the variations take place, first going to a softened Threshold-meets-pre-"Operation Mindcrime" Queensÿche, and next turning into space-rock territory a-la WYWH-era Pink Floyd. The reemergence of the initial mood takes a more complex guise in terms of time signatures and melodic arrangements, creating a moderately epic atmosphere. This track set a pace for much of the remaining repertoire, since the 11-minute 'Sidewinder' also captures much of this combination between space- rock and metallic neo-prog, albeit not being as rough. The mood and tempo shifts help to maintain the standards of musical grandeur delivered in stylish fashion: sometimes the Gothic-like keyboard layers remind me of the most mysterious parts of Abraxas' last album "99". The portions of Bush speeches remind me of the documentary feel provided in Queensrÿche's zenith albums. 'Memoirs from an African Twin' is a beautiful instrumental that starts with a very bucolic duet of acoustic guitars that states the main melody for the candid electric section, which sounds like a mixture of 90s Camel and "Out There"- era Wakeman. The powerful bas riffing that states the starting point for the namesake track brings back the album's prevalent mood, a metal-oriented spirit with industrial flirtations and cosmically elaborated keyboard layers. For the sung section, Baker displays a jazzy vibrato to his emulated electric piano: a nice detail that shows the band's intention to create something renewing within the recurrent scheme. The track's closing climax falls somewhere between tracks 3 and 4 in terms of sonic power. The album's last 9 minutes are occupied by 'This Life Could Be My Last': the calculated melodic frame stated by the vocal and piano seems to be conceived under the power ballad standard, but once the whole ensemble settles in, the industrial element and the hard rocking guitar riffs set the stage. The main motif is catchy and moving, so it won't need any radical refurbishment in mood or rhythm to make it work for its time span: there is indeed a short break in the interlude that begins before minute 6, but it is mostly an adornment and not an autonomous section per se. In terms of structure this track is not as impressive as no. 3 or no. 4, but it definitely provides a nice closure to the album. "Empires Never Last" is the definitive achievement of what Galahad essentially stands for since its inception.

I thought I had been very active with my progressive involvement in 2007 but somehow I get the feeling I must have been sleeping when this album came out. I never noticed it in the running year even though I have been very active on progarchives looking often on the top 100 2007. And what makes things even stranger is that I'm probably the biggest neo adherent on this site at least amongst the prog reviewers. So the least you can do is check out all the neo albums of the running year, at least the good ones. And this was obviously one of the very best if not the best of all. So that leaves me stunned in fact. The only excuse I have is that I never really cared for Galahad mainly caused by their very poor effort in 1997.

The only thing positive in my mind I experienced with this band was the Bug Eye stream song on our site and that was already a lot better but with this album it's very clear they improved even more. The album starts with a very strange overture (De-Fi-Ance) of a beautiful singing lady for several minutes taken over by some fierce metal towards the end. Impressive opener (3,75*). Termination is a more regular neo track, keeping the album on a high level so far (4*). Third is I could be God, my personal highlight (4,75*). The energy is coming off with wagon-loads, this is not how I remember Galahad. It just shows you that a band always deserves a second chance with a next album. But this surpasses even my highest expectations. I never thought Galahad could do something like this I say in all honesty, a completely different band suddenly after many mediocre or even poor efforts over the years. Next song Sidewinder is there to take away my last doubts (4,5*), we are indeed dealing with a near masterpiece here. At first few listens I wasn't really convinced yet but another advantage is that this album can truly grow on you at least it did on me, I only get more and more enthusiastic after each listen.

On the other hand, after this fourth track we have had the better of the album, next song Memories from an African Twin is ok but not very special (3,25*), Empires never last is a great track but not as good as the two earlier highlights (4,25*) and the closer This life could be my last shows they are running out of fule in the end, a fine ballad-like epical song but not by far the best of the album for me (3,5*).

That's why I was talking of a near masterpiece earlier on, it's not really there but it is truly excellent and no doubt their magnum opus so far. It will probably have something to do with the contribution of the excellent guitarist and producer Karl Groom. Anyway, I'm curious after their follow up. 4 stars for this.

3.5 stars.I liked their previous album "Year Zero" quite a lot.There was quite a bit of variety yet it really worked for me,and i enjoyed the theme of the record which was about starting over."Empires Never Last" is a darker and heavier album which is right up my alley, but i think i'm just getting tired of the subject matter.Or maybe it's just that i enjoy GALAHAD better when they're more positive and not trying to be a metal band? Maybe a bit of both actually.I know i'm in the minority with my thoughts here as many feel this is the best work they've done,so you can take my feelings with a grain of salt. Some cool guests here like Karl Groom who engineered,co-produced,edited and mastered this album.He also plays some acoustic guitar on one track and a guitar solo on another.Clive Nolan adds some Fake Dulcimer on the opening song. "De-Fi-Ance" opens with what i thought was a children's choir but is actually three ladies singing together.Karl groom's wife Tina,Sarah Quilter and Tina Booth(ex MAGENTA).This is contrasted with Stu coming in vocally and angrily shouting "Defiance"! Then a heavy soundscape comes in. "Termination" opens with piano before we get some bombast.Vocals come in,female vocals too.Mellotron on this track as well.Some whispering vocals followed by processed vocals.Themes are repeated. "I Could Be God" opens with synths before drums and vocals join in.Some heaviness comes and goes.He does sing with passion here,sort of like Fish.I prefer his normal vocals but i get the reason for singing like this on this track.I like the atmosphere before 5 1/2 minutes when the vocals stop.Reserved vocals 7 minutes in.A sample of Martin Luther King's speech comes in a minute later.Great sound 11 minutes in.Vocals are back after 12 minutes. "Sidewinder" opens with some cool atmosphere.I like the way it builds.Vocals after 2 1/2 minutes.Nice guitar 3 minutes in.A sample of George Bush makes me roll my eyes.Why? Excellent guitar later though. "Memories From An African Twin" might be my favourite song on here.It sounds really good when it gets fuller before a minute.The guitar and organ are outstanding.It settles down then the bass becomes prominant as vocal melodies join in. "Empires Never Die" has a nice bass intro.I like the fuller sound 2 minutes in.Vocals come in when it settles.it gets heavier later. "This Life Could Be My Last" opens with piano,fragile vocals join in.Drums and a fuller sound after 2 minutes.The tempo picks up with piano 6 minutes in.Nice guitar before 8 minutes that goes on and on. A good album that many will hail as GALAHAD's best yet.

Bought this one directly from the merchandising desk after I could enjoy a GALAHAD concert at pROCKfest 2007. I was simply impressed by their performance and especially Stuart Nicholson's presence. Not a surprise really - the studio version of 'Empires Never Last' met my expectation later on and - well - two years later now it's about time to write this down. The album holds seven songs, pretty much dominated by a neo prog style provided with a heavier touch - obviously because Threshold's Karl Groom is responsible for the production here. However - Nicholson is the band's figurehead - absolutely deserved.

Lyrics are provided by him - don't know how much more he was involved in the essential song-writing procedure because the complete band is continuously credited. At least, when he sings, his vocal appearance is dominant. I can only recommend to reach for one of their concerts (if you have the chance) to get an impression about his inspiration and form of expression. On the other hand this does not mean that GALAHAD is a one-man show of course. The album opener De-Fi-Ance makes this clear immediately - pastoral female vocals establish some tension first until the band suddenly destroys this peaceful mood with a heavy wall of sounds - speaking of bombastic keyboards by Dean Baker, Roy Keyworth's heavy riffing guitar and a high-pressure rhythm branch. This is refined by Nicholson's nightmarish sprechgesang.

Just a short remark concerning the album cover. The band utilises a prominent picture showing a Russian soldier setting up a red flag on the Berlin Reichstag - THE symbol for the defeat of the fascist aggression. I like it as for the historical importance although some rumours came up later about slight modifications which were made. And GALAHAD carries on here when putting a 'G' on the flag replacing hammer and sickle. But obviously this does not suit for the whole production - only for a special edition or so. And this is definetely confusing - only a little bit though because the music stays as it is - promised.

Termination is showing Nicholson's vocal range for the first time really - Tina Booth is backing here partially. Again you will detect significant prog metal ingredients like the dramatic heavy bass drum. Probably the album's highlight I Could Be God is something for singing along. A fantastic piece of work especially because holding a melancholic ambient/psychedelic interlude mixed up with Martin Luther King's prominent 'I Have A Dream' speech. This is followed soon by an impressing jamming part presented in a typical neo prog outfit.

Some George Bush quotes are to find on Sidewinder - a more standard genre track with symphonic key/synth work, a catchy chorus but first of all impressing guitar appearance - Karl Groom is involved with a solo. The short Memories From An African Twin surprises off the beaten path - classic flavoured with acoustic guitar, harpsichord and pipe organ here but also jazzy tinged there at the end. The entertaining title track Empires Never Last is corresponding to the album cover contentwise. They excellently switch between heavy and mellow impressions here and integrate some shouting refrains.

Normally I should avoid to emphasize someone especially. Okay - I already did it with the singer - what's the point? The more I listen the more I'm also impressed by Dean Baker's tricky keyboard/synth contributions. 'Empires Never Last' is an absolutely recommended album if you're reaching for a representative progressive rock collection. Memorable catchy melodies and a powerful production - no filler. Congrats pals - 4.5 stars!