Austin Chronicle, vol. 17 issue 24

COURSE OF EMPIRE

Telepathic Last Words (TVT)

Despite the fact that this follow-up to Course of Empire's second album and commercial
breakthrough - '94's Initiation - is two years late, it's not only a worthy follow-up,
it takes up where the last one left off, and improves upon the band's strengths. Whereas
Initiation, which broke "Infested" on now-defunct "alternative radio," pounded hard and
punchy, Telepathic Last Words drones with darker edge - part Soundgarden ("Ride the
Static"), but more Machines of Loving Grace or even Austin's Soak. Better still, this
particular drone has a Middle Eastern accent informed by the opening radio transmission,
"Radio Teheran," and executed on the mid-album suite that starts with the violent 
"Persian Song," continues through the creeping "59 Minutes," and morphs seamlessly into
the eight-minute syncopated snake-charmer, "Freaks." Mainstream rock fans will identify
this Arabic incense and peppermint from Zeppelin's "Kashmir," and its beguiling 
insinuation blends well with Course of Empire's natural industrial/modern rock bent. 
"Houdini's Blind" is also intriguingly twisted, and while "Coming of the Century" is not
nearly as anthemic as the Dallas band probably hoped for, their closer, an ambient, 
surf-echoing drum machine dance take on the classic "Blue Moon" outdoes even the band's
classic Benny Goodman mix of "Infested." Well done. 

3 stars - Raoul Hernandez