Empires

VNV Nation’s first truly great album, 1999’s Empires found Ronan Harris, having steadily built up an initial back-catalog of industrial/darkwave/trance fusions and explorations, striking the clearest balance yet between his goals of accessible hooks, emotional and inspiring lyrics and fierce, skittering musical energy. “Darkangel” was similarly VNV’s first absolute standard, a rampaging then cascading blast of electronic energy and his increasingly warmer, yearning voice, but other cuts like the strong instrumental “Saviour” and the deeply heartfelt “Standing” add to the overall impact.