AWAKEN THE EMPIRE have finally released their debut album. At fourteen songs long, this is a very thorough debut. "Aurora" is just bursting at the seams with a choice of songs. Having formed back in 2009, the band received a lot of publicity after being featured on MTV with their track "Rise and Fall". Since then, they've been working on this new album and according to them this album has had an abundance of ups and downs. After years of hard work, this debut finally saw the light of day on July 24^th, 2015.

I pressed play on this album and my first thought was "Wow..." It's been a long time since I've heard any new material that sounded like this. Imagine early 2000's alt rock, but less whiney. It's great to hear something of that type of genre that no longer has the "woe is me" feeling. This album is a statement, keep on fighting, don't give up, don't let go. Right from the opening track "Insomniacs Unite" we realise that AWAKEN THE EMPIRE are fighters and are summoning us to stand by their side and fight with them. The actual song is extremely melodic with a chorus as catchy as a spider web.  Damien is a beautiful vocalist and you can hear the powerful emotion behind every lyric.

Two songs later comes the anthem that is "We Control the Lights" which, right off the bat has a very MUSE-esque feel to it. There is almost a danceable beat behind this song; you can imagine it blaring through the speakers at your local alternative club. The absolute stand-out track of the album has to be the second to last song "Ashes". It starts off with a subtle acoustic intro whilst fading in some distorted guitar. As with 90% of this album, the chorus is contagious and catchy while the lyrics are easy to understand and sing along to, if you're partial to a good sing-song. Otherwise, it's easy on the ear.

"Aurora" fills that void that was left in your heart when alt rock began to change into a crappier doppelganger genre. AWAKEN THE EMPIRE uses this album to connect with their audience; they let you know that you are not alone and that it will get better. In this day and age, people need that helping hand, I believe AWAKEN THE EMPIRE have held out their hand with this album, taking on the role of therapists, friends and mentors and absolutely nailed it with this album.