I’m a weak prog fan. It takes me forever to hear double albums. I just don’t look forward to it. But some of these releases break through that mental wall, and I really enjoy them. Built for the Future recently offered up a 1.5 hour double album called 2084 Empire, the sequel to 2023’s 2084 Heretic. I’m finding it rather infectious. The album released June 5th.
Built for the Future hails from Texas, USA. I still remember back in 2015 when they contacted me about their debut album, Chasing Light, which was really good. I still love 2020’s Brave New World, too. And I’ll be honest, I don’t think I ever heard 2084 Heretic. That’s my bad. The current lineup includes Kenny Bissett on lead vocals, guitar, and keyboards; Patric Farrell on guitar, bass, keyboards, programming, and backing vocals; Pete Fithian on keyboards, and Lalo on drums.
First, a quick disclaimer: you’ll notice that the cover art betrays some Gen AI use. I recently announced on the Facebook page that I’m no longer reviewing albums that use Gen AI in any capacity that I can detect. After speaking with Patric, it appears only the “weathered” effect is Gen AI (as I suspected), and since I had already committed to covering this album, I decided to publish this review.
Now, the band plays a modern progressive rock with obvious throwbacks to the retro era. Honestly, one wouldn’t normally expect this sound out of a band from Texas, of all places. It is rather light and airy, extremely rhythmic, and chock full of vocal harmonies, excellent bass grooves, and sweet keyboard solos. Yet, sometimes they inject a little edge, too.
This is the second album in their 2084 concept arc, which imagines a future dystopian government and those who rebel against it. Well, we don’t really have to “imagine” much of this anymore. But I digress. The album has some darker lyrics at times, but also plenty of hope, and even with the somber lyrics, the music maintains a lighthearted feeling most of the time. It makes for a very listenable album.
2084 Empire only has ten tracks. Both halves feature an epic of sorts. So imagine these tracks surrounded by shorter, breezier songs, and the album doesn’t end up feeling as long as it is. I think the album opens with three very strong tracks, which are”2084”, “Propaganda”, and “The Empire State”. All three are fairly similar, being surprisingly catchy and groovy in a way that captures your attention. My favorite is definitely “Propaganda” with its synth solo and, I don’t know, there’s just something about the chorus I love.
“Subterranean” is another great track, though, being somewhat darker (which makes sense). I love the warm keyboard punches of color at the beginning, like echoes deep in a cavern. The first half ends with probably my favorite song on the album, “Airstrip One”. It’s the “epic”, though it’s only about twelve minutes long, but it feels like one still. It has such a cinematic build up, and it maintains that trajectory, climbing higher and adding more layers, and it has such a pleasing aura. They could have made it twenty minutes long and I’d still love it.
The second half is great, too, though I’ll admit I prefer the first one. There are good tunes here, like “Zealot”, a driving and rhythmic piece that feels like it’s about to sweep you away somewhere; or “The Brotherhood”, which focuses on a hovering, melodic atmosphere. It’s quite beautiful. Then we come to “Oceania”, the twenty-five minute epic. Yes, the album does feel like it hits a wall. Now, it’s a great song. Don’t get me wrong. But it could be shorter for my tastes. Still, I really like the subtle dancing rhythms, the halos of light, the expressive keyboard portions, the pensive passages. It’s a great tune but does feel like a closer to where my brain is bewildered afterwards that there’s two more tracks.
“Permanent War” is, perhaps, one of the most on-the-nose tracks lyrically. Still, it’s rhythmic and flows beautifully. The closer “National Anthem” proves to be another favorite of mine, worth the wait. It has more space, more hovering moments; I love the vocal harmonies here especially, and the cinematic, guitar-driven ending. It really does feel foreboding, yet hopeful, like the rest of the story is yet to come. I like that.
Built for the Future have put a lot into this album. And for a double album, it has remarkably little filler. And it leaves me with this feeling that the opening rhythms last the entire course of the record, like I’m just being swept into this storyline and the current flows relentlessly towards the ending without many lulls. Prog rock fans really need to give it a try.
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Find Built for the Future online:
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