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Autokrator - 'The Obedience To Authority' (Album Premiere)

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In the face of the extreme totalitarianism of his novel 1984, author George Orwell offered a grim outlook: “If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever.” All opposition to authority will be systematically quashed, all free thought extinguished, all will submit to hierarchy. Though we certainly haven’t reached a situation to that extreme—and I’m sure a few foil-hats will argue that world totalitarianism is much more severe than what is known to the public—the tell-tale signs are there. Having previously explored the mind and doings of historic madman Nero, French “industrial death drone” duo Autokrator explore the fascist tendencies of the human condition with their sophomore effort, the crushing The Obedience to Authority.

Following Stanley Milgram’s assertion that, when exposed to a hierarchical system, humans “play their part,” authority delegates and acts without mercy and those subjected submit. They are hammered with hate and precision, which is elocuted with Autokrator mastermind L.F.s marriage of minimalist death/doom metal and traditional industrial music’s pummeling, thick rhythmic ostinati, small cogs in a greater, efficient machine. The mechanical sound of The Obedience to Authority speaks of a greater dehumanization, the densely distorted machine’s smaller parts losing their individual identities to become part of a faceless collective with vocalist David Bailey acting as the idealized authority figure and torturer.

As evidenced by their first, self-titled album, Autokrator’s music is a relentless exercise in endurance: L.F.’s instrumental tracks, a dense wall of inhuman death metal noise, overwhelm and crumble hindrances to dust. The Obedience To Authority is a continuation on this tradition, though with a larger sense of restraint. This album won’t blow out your subwoofers, but Autokrator will still shake you to your core. The sounds of authority, the regimented torture of totalitarianism. Autokrator is Orwell’s dreaded eternal stamping boot, and it will forevermore.

The totalitarian regime of Autokrator’s The Obedience To Authority will crush the weak and unprepared on April 22 via Godz of War Productions and LF’s own Krucyator Productions. Have an exclusive first listen to the album in its entirety with a track-by-track summary by LF below. Support your favorite artists and labels.

—Jon Rosenthal

Thoughts and a track by track overview from the artist:

The Obedience to Authority, aside from being the name of our new album, is the name of an experiment led by American psychologist and professor Stanley Milgram.

In this experiment, Milgram’s goal was to “measure the willingness to obey an authority figure who instructs to perform acts conflicting with personal conscience” meaning “causing serious injury and distress to innocent people.”

Through this experiment, Milgram tried to explain some human behaviors, more precisely during wars or in dictatorships.

This Autokrator album is based on this experiment of the “Brainwashing Manual”, written out by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology from Soviet Leader Lavrenti Beria’s perspective

To clarify, both Hubbard and Beria ideologies are are not the subject, only the contents of the “Brainwashing Manual” is.

The “Brainwashing Manual” concerns the use of violence to achieve obedience, and how to use it on a national scale.

On our first album (Autokrator), we were a five-piece band, and we’re now only David (vocals), myself (L.F) (guitars-bass-sampling-mixing-mastering), and a session drummer who chose to stay anonymous.

Concerning the musical aspect, our goal for this album was to have: a more dynamic sound, a more brutal approach, a more balanced mixing, and more varied songs.

The album is divided in 8 chapters, following this pattern: a brutal song – a heavy song – an instrumental interlude – a brutal song – a heavy song – an instrumental interlude – a heavy final song – a drone industrial influenced outro song.

CHAPTER I (A brutal song)

The song begins with a sample from a french film directed by Yann Gozlan called “Captifs”.

A short martial beat leaves room to blasting riffs. The song has a classical intro / verse / chorus / verse / chorus / outro structure.

The song is about, why to use violence to achieve obedience, to achieve ruler’s goal.

“The only goal of authority is to obtain… Obedience”

CHAPTER II (a heavy song)

Introduction of the second song, is a fading in instrumental martial combination of guitar bass and percussions.

This song has a more awkward structure, the introduction is succeeded by the only verse of the song, and the song finished with a dissonant orchestration.

David, our singer, assumes here the role of the torturer.

“Bring me the man,Ii’ll bring you the crime
A body immersed in fluid, eventually confesses”

CHAPTER III (an instrumental prelude)

Chapter III is a combination of martial beats, torture sample, and dark industrial soundscapes.

CHAPTER IV (the most brutal song on the album)

This song is my favourite one, a 300 bpm blast and double bass song.
The pattern is the same pattern as the first song, and theme is close.

The brutality and fear bring blind obedience,

“Organization that displays inhumanity, will be blindly obeyed.”

CHAPTER V (a mixture of heaviness, brutality, and repetition)

The song is about the use of psychiatry to obtain obedience in a state, meaning that the obeying is the result of being sane, and suffering is the result of being insane.

The song has a lot of repetitions, to enforce the psychological aspect of it.

“The more violent is the treatment, the more hopeless insanity, will seem to be”

CHAPTER VI (the second instrumental interlude)

Chapter VI contains a sample from french Henri Verneuil’s film “I, comme Icare”. The sample is a speech from a scene reproducing Milgram’s experiment. The speaker explains the goal of the experiment.

We added orchestration, effects and dark beats to the sample.

CHAPTER VII (the heaviest song on the album)

We tried, with this song, to record the heaviest song ever made. At least, we tried.

Song starts with a bass intro, followed by heavy palm muted riffs. The song ends with 300 bpm blast beats parts, to counterbalance the slowness and heaviness of the first part.

The song has very few lyrics, and they’re based on loyalty toward authority

“Cruelty commands respect”

CHAPTER VIII (a drone/instrumental outro)

This song closes the album.

We collaborated with industrial and ambient artist Auditor, a talented guy, who handled the outro of the song ,with an apocalyptic and claustrophobic orchestration.

The song is a torture interrogatory.

The torturer asks, the victim answers.

“You will talk!

“No!”

—LF, Autokrator

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