Acid Empire (2011)
Acid Empire is the musical project of composer and multi-instrumentalist Mike Bridge. He is the bass player for a British gothic metal band called Season’s End. Acid Empire began as a solo project of Mike Bridge, who was interested in combining the rich dimension of a symphonic orchestra with the energy of heavy metal.
The album Acid Empire came out in 2011 and the album line-up includes Mike Bridge on bass and acoustic guitar; Dave Stanton on electric guitar, Jack Lipinski on vocals, Hannah Bridge on vocals, and Damian Wilson as guest vocalist on ‘Into The Void.’
Although I’m not a fan of heavy metal, Acid Empire has its interesting moments. The most noteworthy cuts are the symphonic introductory piece titled ‘Prelude’, the delicate acoustic guitar piece ‘Theme’, the first part of ‘1000 Days’ and the dreamy ‘The Return (Prelude)’.
On the more metal-oriented pieces you can also find epic guitar moments. I’ll keep floating the idea of doing two versions of albums such as this: a progressive rock mix without the metal and a metal mix full of the riffs that heavy metal fans like so much.
Listen to samples and buy MP3s
Buy the CD from: