Black Sun Empire are a Dutchdrum and bass group that formed in Utrecht, Netherlands in 1997 by producers Rene Verdult and brothers Micha and Milan Heyboer. The group has received much praise from critics, even being referred to as "the kings of all things neuro". Since their inception, the group has released five full-length albums and have operated three independent record labels: Black Sun Empire Recordings, Obsessions, and Blackout Music NL.
History
Rene, Milan, and Micha all knew each other since they were children and the trio were first exposed to jungle music as teens in the mid-1990s. The trio began to produce music together in 1993 and began producing music under the name Black Sun Empire in 1997. In 1999, the trio issued their debut 12" single "Voltage/Skin Deep" through Piruh Records. More singles and splits would be released the following four years, some of which were released through the group's self operated Black Sun Empire Recordings, which was set up in 2002. In 2004, the group released their first full-length studio albumDriving Insane, which contained the track "Arrakis", which would later be featured in the trailer for EVE Online. Their next album, Cruel and Unusual followed in 2005. That same year, the group created the sub-label Obsessions. In 2007, the group's third albumEndangered Species was released. The group's fourth album Lights and Wires was issued in 2010 and featured dubstep influences. Their fifth album From the Shadows was released in 2012 and met both critical and commercial success, even earning a spot on Beatport's Top 5Best Selling Albums of 2012. To support the album, the group underwent a world tour and performed in places such as Europe, the United States of America, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia. In 2013, the group established a third record label, Blackout Music NL. The group also began to host Blackout festival events, the second event in particular taking place in London. By 2015, the Blackout festivals spread to the United States, with the first Los Angeles festival being held in June 2015. In 2015, Milan Heyboer mentioned that the group were in the process of producing more material. In November 2016, the group premiered the new track "Caterpillar", featuring Virus Syndicate. The track is featured in the group's last album "The Wrong Room", released on 31 March 2017.
Style
The group is commonly seen as neurofunk, and have also been called techstep, drum and bass, and dubstep in the past. Rene Verdult has mentioned that programs such as Cubase 6.5, Vember Audio Surge, and u-He Zebra have been used by the group to produce tracks in the past. Typically, individual members of the group experiment and produce their own tracks, and collaboration between group members usually only occur to give and receive advice. Milan Heyboer described the group's way of production as improvisation. The group has gone on to state artists such as Ed Rush & Optical, Konflict, Stakka & Skynet, and Bad Company as major influences. All compact disc editions of their full-length albums include a second disc containing an hour-long continuous mix as a bonus.
