29/07/2024
EMPIRE 44: MUSIC, MAGICK & MILITARISM
Text & Photo by Fred Berger
The First World War broke out in all its terrible fury on 28 July 1914 – today marks its 110th anniversary. It was a conflict which in four years would claim the lives of 9 million soldiers and 8 million civilians across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The “Great War,” as it was called, was precipitated by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire. He and his wife were ambushed and shot dead in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo on 28 June of that fateful year by a young Bosnian man who opposed his country’s annexation into the imperial domains of the Habsburg dynasty. Believing that the assassin was armed and directed by Serbian intelligence agents, Vienna declared war on Serbia and launched a punitive expedition to quash its interference in Austrian affairs. This initiated a chain reaction whereby the system of alliances that bound the two opposing factions of European powers together, subsequently dragged one nation after the other into the maelstrom. The Entente consisted principally of Great Britain, France, and Imperial Russia – and the Central Powers was comprised of Imperial Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. The Kingdom of Italy and the United States entered the fray belatedly, with both joining the Entente – the former in 1915 and the latter in 1917. And even through Russia capitulated due to the overthrow of its government, America’s overwhelming might decided the outcome of the war in favor of the Entente. The Armistice was signed by a defeated Germany and its adversaries on 11 November 1918, bringing an end to the most devastating war in history up to that time.
So catastrophic was this so-called “war to end all wars,” and so monumental were its repercussions, that some bible scholars and esoteric researchers have claimed it marked the start of the prophesied End Times. The Treaty of Versailles, the peace settlement which came into effect in January 1920, unjustly placed sole responsibility for the war on Germany. Its harsh terms imposed economically crippling reparations payments to the victors and stripped the country of 12% of its territory, most of which was ceded to Poland. The forfeiture of Germany’s eastern provinces of West Prussia, Posen, and Upper Silesia was part of the scheme to resurrect the Polish nation, which had ceased to exist upon its absorption into the Imperial Russia Empire in 1832. But with the fall of the Czar and the Romanov Dynasty in 1917, this became a desirable diplomatic goal. Of course, these circumstances provided the rationale for the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. Once again, a localized regional conflict escalated into a worldwide conflagration, largely through the machinations of Western hegemons. The regime in Berlin had no global ambitions, but was instead focused primarily on re-establishing Germany’s pre-1920 borders or some facsimile thereof. As for the seizure of its African colonies by the Entente powers, it sought compensation through the establishment of a Germanic empire in the European regions of the Soviet Union. A confrontation with Britain and France was never intended, but their declarations of war against Germany in response to the Polish incursion prompted its pre-emptive invasion of Western Europe in the spring of 1940. This set in motion a calamitous war that would claim the lives of up to 85 million people, with civilian losses doubling that of military personnel. The death and devastation wrought by this near-Apocalyptic catastrophe exceeded all the previous wars combined, and culminated in the first use of nuclear weapons, with American aircraft dropping two atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945. This unprecedented act of total destruction marked the end of the Second World War, and initiated a terrifying nuclear arms race, primarily between the United States and its erstwhile ally the Soviet Union.
The ebb and flow of global events since the collapse of the USSR in 1991 have provided no reassurance, and conceivably could be propelling humanity toward a Third World War, which given the vast nuclear arsenals and stakes involved could truly be the “war to end all wars.” However, such an outcome would not be the hoped-for era of peace imagined in the immediate aftermath of World War 1, but rather the outbreak of the Battle of Armageddon, the final conflict. A number of eschatologists have correlated this sequence of monstrous events with the release of Abaddon, the angel of the bottomless pit foretold in Chapter 9 of the Book of Revelation, who may very well have been loosed upon the Earth on this day in 1914.
From this continuum of cosmic and existential horror arose Liers In Wait, a deep musical and occult exploration of utter darkness initiated by guitarist, singer, and song writer Erik Sizemore in the mid-1980s. The group’s name was derived from the demonic deities of ancient Sumer who imparted their knowledge of writing, science, mathematics, agriculture, medicine, and astrology to this earliest known civilization. It is said that these entities, also known as the “Ancient Ones,” were motivated by the desire to emancipate humans from their Creator, the authoritarian Jehovah. The group’s biggest release was ‘Spear of Destiny’ in 1993 on Railroad Records, the title referring to the lance that pierced the side of Christ at the Crucifixion. This holy relic is said to possess miraculous powers of world conquest or universal peace, depending on the intentions of the one who wields it. It was incorporated into the band’s logo to form an inverted pentagram in conjunction with crossed daggers and devil horns (see this graphic in the comments section of the article).
Touring with bands such as Genitorturers, Electric Hellfire Club, Front 242, and Christian Death (the Rozz and Valor iterations), Liers In Wait was a rising star on the goth-industrial scene, which attracted the attention of Propaganda Magazine, resulting in a major feature in its Spring 1995 issue. That review, written by editor-in-chief Fred Berger, stated, “Liers In Wait is to music what Giger is to art and Lovecraft is to literature.” Another notable alternative music publication that covered the group was Seconds Magazine, with its members being interviewed by Michael Moynihan who wrote, “Liers In Wait is bound to become an underground classic chronicling these lesser days of the late 20th century.”
The Apocalyptic tendencies of Liers In Wait are clearly evident throughout much of their published work, but perhaps its most sublime expression is found in the unreleased song ‘Megiddo.’ The name is taken from a hill in northern Israel where fortresses were built to guard a strategic crossroads in ancient times. It appears in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 16 using its Greek name – Armageddon, the prophesied site of the climactic End Times battle between the forces of good and evil. This darkly enchanting track was the spontaneous result of a jam session noteworthy for its Middle Eastern acoustic style and highlighted by the seductive non-verbal vocals of Regeana Campbell. Erik refers to it as “ritual music” – it was indeed a conjuring!*
But such invocations can be potentially dangerous, and rather than continue to stare ever deeper into the abyss, putting themselves at the mercy of whatever is staring back, the group decided to examine the duality of man from a spiritual as well as a humanistic perspective. Enter Empire 44, the next phase of Erik’s Grail quest launched in 1997, once again seeking arcane knowledge and expressing it through the medium of music. Utilizing sources as diverse as the Holy Bible and the works of Ayn Rand, plus iconography as paradoxical as the Crown of Thorns and Son of Sam’s “44” caliber killer symbol, this experiment in human consciousness took a more nuanced approach. This newfound illumination was embodied by the Black female singers Johnnie Lee Hooper and Trina Meade, whose soulful vocals lifted the veil ever so slightly to allow a narrow shaft of light to pierce the all-consuming darkness. Erik always had a knack of recruiting beautiful women for his projects, most notably keyboardist and backing vocalist Olga Gazman, who became a popular Propaganda model appearing in several of its photo features in the mid-1990s.
Speaking of beautiful women, Erik’s latest creative endeavor, the 2022 horror film ‘Bed of Nails,’ stars Deanna Marine in the role of Sky, the sultry goth girl witch who comes back from the dead to wreak vengeance on the thugs who sadistically murdered her and her friends. Produced, directed, and written by first-time filmmaker Michael Malott, this low budget exploitation flick is basically a supernatural version of ‘I Spit On Your Grave.’ Other than the enticing and exquisitely diabolical Sky, the film’s most noteworthy feature is the phenomenal over-the-top soundtrack, which consists entirely of Liers In Wait and Empire 44 songs. Entered in over a hundred film festivals, it has garnered dozens of accolades and awards for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Soundtrack. Erik’s contribution to the production also includes his role as Leroy, one of the killers whose cruelty and cowardice is absolutely detestable and insanely hilarious. ‘Bed of Nails’ is scheduled for commercial release on multiple platforms and in various formats this coming August 26th. Let’s just hope the End can be postponed long enough for this to happen, and if not – at least Erik can say, “I told you so.”
ATTENTION READERS, ADDITIONAL EDITORIAL CONTENT:
In the comments section of this article is a post with a photo of Sky from the film ‘Bed of Nails, and another with links to the Liers In Wait song ‘Megiddo’ and the Empire 44 songs ‘God of’ and ‘My Stand.’
PHOTO CAPTION: The Empire 44 honor guard. From left to right are Heather Burress, Johnnie Lee Hooper, and Shannon MacDonald. This photo was shot in 2000 in Atlanta GA, the band’s hometown. (Photo & Copyright © by Fred Berger)
LIERS IN WAIT & EMPIRE 44 SONG REVIEWS
1) ‘Whore of Babylon’ by Liers In Wait, on the Spear of Destiny LP, released in 1993:
A hard danceable number inspired by the Mother of Harlots from the Book of Revelation. Haunting female vocals conjure blasphemous visions of this bejeweled scarlet-clad woman writhing in ecstasy she tempts the kings of the earth. Meanwhile, like a mad prophet, vocalist Bill Anderson proclaims the terrible destruction which her fornications bring upon mankind. The frenetic yet precision guitar work is positively wicked! (This track is on Youtube.)
2) ‘Burning World’ by Empire 44, on the self-titled Empire 44 EP, released in 1997:
The song opens with a somber female voice saying, “I started having the dreams.” This is followed by Erik repeatedly bellowing “I see the end” like a man possessed, contrasted by samples of a radio evangelist nonchalantly referring to the Apocalypse and Armageddon. The song is a visionary nightmare of impending doom, sung with such ferocity and conviction that if the fulfillment of End Times prophecies fails to materialize, this piece just might bring it about through sheer dint of will. (This track is on Youtube.)
3) ‘My Stand’ by Empire 44, on the Shock Waves LP, released in 2000:
In the same vein as The Rolling Stones’ ‘Sympathy for the Devil,’ this number is sung by Erik from the 1st person perspective of Lucifer in Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost,’ intuitively capturing the pathos and pride of this tragic antihero. His defiant “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven” credo is on full display, with the band’s fabulous Trina Meade singing in harmony – “I stand, starring back at you, from my emptiness, I’m standing her in spite of you.” (There is a post in the comments section of this article with a link to this song.)
4) ‘God of’ by Empire 44, on the Shock Waves LP, released in 2000:
This foot-tapping gospel meets hard rock song is a gnostic proclamation of sorts, challenging the authority of the demiurge with powerful lyrics and an irresistible beat. The lush female vocals are evocative of a Black spiritual, and yet convey a rebellious Miltonian dialectic – “I am the god of war, I am the god of love, I am the god that sits in judgement high above; do as I say, don’t do as I do, or I will let the whole of my wrath rain down upon you.” (There is a post in the comments section of this article with a link to this song.)
5) ‘Enter Night’ by Empire 44, on the Shock Waves LP, released 2000:
This melancholy symphonic piece appears to take a dubious view of the end of the age. Rather than rejoicing over the fulfilled prophecy of Christ’s millennial reign on earth following the Battle of Armageddon, profound disappointment seems to have set in. The crestfallen lyric, “we thought it would last for a thousand years,” may imply that this era of peace might not occur at all. In that case, the phrase “enter night” could suggest the “passage of humanity” into a perennial dark age, or even extinction. (This track is on Youtube.)
