Collapse Under the Empire

About

Collapse Under the Empire are a Hamburg duo, Chris Burda and Martin Grimm, who have been quietly building one of the more compelling bodies of work in instrumental post rock since 2008. Their sound pulls in threads from trip hop, shoegazing, synthpop, and progressive rock, which gives it a cinematic quality that earned comparisons to 65daysofstatic and God Is an Astronaut and praise from publications like Q, Clash, and Rock Sound. The word 'cinematic' gets thrown around a lot in post rock, but reviews specifically pointing to 'crystal clear production' and 'imaginative arrangements' suggest Burda and Grimm genuinely earn it. Nine studio albums deep, they have kept a steady pace without a major label behind them. Fragments of a Prayer and Everything We Will Leave Beyond Us both landed album of the month in Sonic Seducer, and their 2023 release Recurring shows no sign of slowing down. Their fourth album Shoulders and Giants kicked off a concept series, and the split EP Black Moon Empire with Russian band Mooncake is a nice detour worth tracking down.