course of empire were a relatively obscure group from dallas, tx in the early 90s. their debut had some success, and was picked up by zoo entertainment (who at one point tool was also signed to). it didn't sell too well, and neither did their follow-up, so the band was dropped. they released one more album on another label in '98, and then faded away from the music scene. interestly, the band no longer recieves compensation from their records, because they are all out-of-print. luckily for us, they have all their material hosted on their website, free to download. lucky us. but why should you waste your time on this album, among all the other countless free ones out there?'cuz it's fucking awesome. CoE play with a sorta 90s alt metal sound, but they bring in some distinct industrial influences into play to give them a unique sound. they have a great vocalist, really cool lyrics, and they incorporate a lot of cool ideas into their sound that other 90s bands did not (like the near-7 minute closing track that consists solely of birds in the background and an eno-esque guitar playing a beautiful requiem for the world). it's kinda hard to describe their sound without sounding ridiculous, so i'll stop. just give a listen to a total lost gem from twenty years past! 1990.
