Empires To Ruins do not mince words on their hard-hitting new single, “Point Of View.” This haunting track pulls dystopia out of fiction and into our memory of the pandemic age. At a hair over four minutes, this mirror is held to everyone, and what it reflects is uncomfortable, raw, and unblinkingly honest.
“Point of View.” These words conjure scenes of solitude and disquiet and a menacing riff that hangs in the air like empty streets, silent and unnatural. It’s a way to remember the lingering mental cost of that time, and Empires To Ruins ensures we know all about it.
Then, we get a verse where the band focuses on the powers that be. In stinging commentary and scathing delivery, they skewer the mishandling, misinformation, and media manipulation surrounding the crisis. It’s political and passionate and punches above its weight. The chorus isn’t comforting. It’s clarifying, delivering a mission statement of white-knuckled unease, distrust of authorities, and getting what’s coming to them.
Like any well-executed breakdown, it sends listeners plummeting into the reality abyss. Excerpts from George Orwell’s 1984 and John Carpenter’s Lives are intertwined between heavy, brooding instrumentals, which makes the implication clear. Sometimes, truth is not only a stranger but also scarier than fiction.
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