Galactic Empire play heavy metal arrangements of film scores in full Star Wars costuming — guitarist Grant McFarland calls it “undeniably a little silly” — and the whole performance rests on the gap between what the band looks like and what they sound like. Cinemetal, their 2025 Pure Noise Records release, widened the concept beyond Star Wars: Howard Shore, Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer, and John Williams all get the treatment across twelve tracks of blockbuster scores rebuilt in guitar.
About the Show
This is Fatalitour 2, the band’s fall 2026 North American run, announced in their own words: “The Empire will be touring once again in your galaxy this fall… Attendance is Mandatory.” The Albany date was originally September 12 before being rescheduled to November 4; it’s now the final listed date on the leg, the night after Hamilton, Ontario. No support acts are listed.
McFarland has described the band’s arrangement approach as “faithfulness in departure”: original melodies and chord structures stay intact, while drums and guitar solos fill in where orchestral instruments were. He’s noted that rhythm (drums, absent from the orchestral originals) is the band’s primary creative departure. Before Cinemetal, the group had released three albums of strictly Star Wars material; this is the expansion beyond that, applying the method to the Terminator score, Jurassic Park, Lord of the Rings, Batman, Superman, and seven more film themes, all performed without a vocalist. McFarland called it “the most densely layered, complex arrangement that we have ever tackled.”
The band launched on Rise Records in 2017, built a following after their debut video crossed 10 million views, and has logged more than 210 documented performances across the U.S., U.K., Germany, Canada, and Japan. The fall run opened in September in Nashville, then Columbus, then Buffalo, before moving west and circling back east for the final leg. Their audience crosses metal fandom and the broader nerd-culture crowd, a combination the band has leaned into through theatrical costuming and in-character Star Wars personas. November also has them aboard the S.S. Neverender Caribbean cruise with Coheed and Cambria.
Venue & Logistics
Empire Underground is at 93 N. Pearl St. in Albany, the club-level room within the Empire Live complex. The November 4 date is Galactic Empire’s only Capital Region stop on the fall leg. Doors open at 6 p.m., show at 7 p.m.
Tickets
At $25 advance, that’s a fair price for what the live show delivers. Tickets are $25 advance, $30 day of show. Buy tickets