Empire (Let Them Sing)

Album: Sempiternal (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Vocalist Oli Sykes told Metal Hammer magazine that lyrically this is one of his favorites on Sempiternal, "because it's one of the few where I wrote the lyrics before I wrote the melodies. Most of the time I've found out that that doesn't work, but it gave me a lot of freedom."
  • Bassist Matt Kean told Sugarscape about the writing of the song's instrumentation: "The main part in this one is a part we already had, just on its own," he said, "like the main riff. So we came back to that one later and it kinda like felt like a work in progress for quite a while. It's the heaviest song on the album, I really like the chorus in it - and the ending's got like scary string sounds.

    "It's one of my favourites on the whole album, actually," he continued. "When we recorded it we got like, I think it was maybe eight musicians, like all doing different strings like violins and violas and cellos, and we had them all come into the studio when we wrote the music out for them and stuff. It was cool. I remember when they first came into the studio and we were all like just we listened to them play our songs back and we were just like 'Oh they sound like a movie soundtrack.'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Incongruent Opening Acts

Incongruent Opening ActsSong Writing

Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.

Music Video Director David Hogan

Music Video Director David HoganSong Writing

David talks about videos he made for Prince, Alabama, Big & Rich, Sheryl Crow, DMB, Melissa Etheridge and Sisters of Mercy.

Kevin Godley

Kevin GodleySongwriter Interviews

Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.

Superman in Song

Superman in SongSong Writing

Not everyone can be a superhero, but that hasn't stopped generations of musicians from trying to be Superman.

Grammar In Lyrics

Grammar In LyricsMusic Quiz

Lyrics don't always follow the rules of grammar. Can you spot the ones that don't?

Carl Sturken

Carl SturkenSongwriter Interviews

Hitmaker Carl Sturken on writing and producing for Rihanna, 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Donny Osmond, Shakira and Karyn White.