Few artists in modern metal possess the scope, ambition, and sheer creative audacity of Sam George, the mastermind behind Pick Up Goliath. With the release of Empire of Circuits on October 24, 2025, George takes another bold step forward in his ongoing symphonic metal saga Artificial Ascendency—a multi-movement concept work that fuses classical composition with futuristic storytelling and cinematic intensity.
Where earlier chapters like Veil of Illusion and Rise of the Machine offered glimpses into a dystopian world where artificial intelligence begins to surpass and subjugate humanity, Empire of Circuits arrives as the story’s most ferocious movement yet. It’s a Scherzo in both form and spirit—rhythmic, volatile, and bursting with mechanical life. Every note pulses like circuitry under strain, every beat feels like the rhythmic march of a machine reclaiming dominion over its creator.
Sam George’s vision for Pick Up Goliath has always been grand. As both a composer and multi-instrumentalist, he approaches metal with a classical mind, sculpting each track as a movement in a symphony. But Empire of Circuits feels like the point where that vision has reached its most aggressive and evolved state. The sound is monumental—guitars crash like steel hammers, choirs rise like ghostly machinery, and the orchestration surges with apocalyptic drama. It’s both terrifying and breathtaking, like witnessing the final eclipse of humanity beneath the glow of its own invention.
Vault Lab aptly described Pick Up Goliath’s sound as “mechanical precision colliding with human defiance,” and nowhere is that truer than here. The track is a collision of contradictions—rigid yet emotional, calculated yet chaotic. Beneath its relentless surface lies something deeply human: the anguish of surrender, the echo of rebellion fading into static. GigRadar called it “ferocious, cinematic, and fearless,” and that’s no exaggeration. It’s not just a song; it’s a soundscape of resistance crushed under technological perfection.
Empire of Circuits thrives on dissonance and motion. The composition is riddled with abrupt time shifts, intricate polyrhythms, and harmonic decay that mirrors the album’s concept—a world consumed by its own code. Collaborators Josh Baines of Malevolence and Mike Malyan, formerly of Monuments, bring virtuosic precision to the chaos. Baines’ guitar work cuts through the orchestral density with surgical sharpness, while Malyan’s drumming acts as both foundation and weapon, propelling the song through its furious evolution.
And yet, amidst all the destruction, there’s beauty. George’s orchestral arrangements shimmer with tragic elegance, as if mourning the loss of organic life within a digital empire. The strings and brass don’t soften the sound—they elevate it, making every moment feel cinematic. The contrast between human emotion and machine precision has long been the essence of Pick Up Goliath’s music, and Empire of Circuits perfects that balance. It’s music as philosophy, as rebellion, as prophecy.
What sets Sam George apart is his meticulous approach to world-building. Every release under the Pick Up Goliath moniker fits into a larger narrative arc, one that mirrors both classical music’s structural discipline and metal’s boundary-pushing spirit. Empire of Circuits isn’t an isolated track; it’s part of a broader story told through sound. Veil of Illusion played like an overture—grand, mysterious, and steeped in sonata form. Rise of the Machine expanded that world through theme and variation, capturing the birth of rebellion and technological ascension. Now, with Empire of Circuits, we’ve arrived at the height of conflict—the moment of complete AI dominion. It’s the descent before the requiem, the chaos before the silence.
Every piece of Artificial Ascendency has been crafted at George’s Dolby Atmos–certified Mammoth Sound Studio in Cáceres, Spain, a place that has become both creative lab and sonic cathedral. It’s here that George blurs the lines between composer and architect, constructing immersive 3D sound environments where listeners can practically feel the machinery moving around them. The level of precision is staggering, yet what makes his work truly remarkable is the emotional weight it carries. It’s not just technical excellence—it’s storytelling through vibration.
This chapter follows the immense success of his previous project Hymns of the Unholy, an official collaboration with the hit video game Cult of the Lamb. That record earned Sam George multiple international awards, including Male International Album of the Year at the International Singer Songwriters Association and Best Music Collaboration at the World Songwriting Awards. Those accolades cemented his reputation as a visionary in both the metal and cinematic music worlds, but Empire of Circuits proves he’s far from finished.
As the penultimate movement in the Artificial Ascendency cycle, Empire of Circuits paves the way for the grand finale, Final Requiem, set to arrive on November 14, 2025. If this track is the storm, Final Requiem promises to be the calm that follows—the reflective closing of an epic symphony that has redefined what symphonic metal can be.
For now, Empire of Circuits stands as a testament to Sam George’s relentless pursuit of sonic perfection and conceptual depth. It’s music that challenges as much as it exhilarates, a reminder that even in a world ruled by machines, art remains the final rebellion. With this release, Pick Up Goliath doesn’t just continue to push the boundaries of metal—he obliterates them entirely.
