According to their website, Dark Empire is intended to be “the epitome of the perfect metal band: thrashy riffs, blazing solos and aggressive yet melodic vocals, full of energy and emotion.” With international label attention and a few shows on the horizon, Dark Empire is looking forward to an illustrious career and have good reason to – they rock. I’m not gonna explain them to you, just go to their Myspace site and listen. Check out the interview below to get the dirt.

And a massive thanks to sister Ali whom I met at a Dark Tranquillity show, for doing this interview. She’ll be hitting the shores of the Holy Land later than sooner, so watch out, Old Friend, here she comes.

MI: Before we start, would you tell us who you are and a little bit about Dark Empire?

MM: I’ve been playing guitar for 11 years. I started out being influenced by progressive rock bands like Pink Floyd, Genesis, Rush, and King Crimson, and a few years later on got into bands like Dream Theater and Symphony X, which formed the roots of my style. In Dark Empire, I am the primary songwriter, lyricist, lead guitarist, and I do most of the death vocals as well, although everyone else in the band puts their interpretation on what I write. So even though I write everything, it’s colored by the other members as well.

MI: How did you get together with the current band members?

MM: Jens is the only other original member besides myself right now, although after talking with our old bassist, Noah, recently, it’s entirely possible he might work with us in the future, at the very least just in the studio. Back when I was looking for vocalists to work with on our first album, Distant Tides, I had emailed Jens because I absolutely loved his singing with Persuader and really wanted to work with him. He was interested and asked to hear some demo recordings. I sent them over and he dug it, so he was in. Samus I had met through Noah, since Noah had played on the last Suspyre album. Noah played Samus the old stuff and he was really interested in taking the open drumming position since we stopped working with Teemu. He’s a monster behind the drum kit, it’s awesome playing with him. We currently do not have a permanent bass player, and I played all the bass on the new album, except for a little bit of fretless in one song that our producer, Jeremy Krull, played.

MI: Where are you all from?

MM: Samus and myself are from New Jersey, although I’m originally from Long Island, New York. Jens is from Umea, Sweden.

MI: Is it difficult to get everyone together since you all live in different places?

MM: Yes! Texas Madfest, the festival we are playing in Houston, TX on July 14th, is helping to bring Jens over to do our first shows, which is really awesome of them. Otherwise, it’s not hard for Samus and I to get together and jam, since we live about 40 min away from each other.

MI: Are you currently under a label?

MM: Distant Tides was originally an independent release, but it has since been picked up by Rock Machine Records in Brazil. We’ll probably go with them to release Humanity Dethroned as well, and we have interest from a label in Japan and also North America, but I can’t say who yet.

MI: When and/or why did you start to play metal?

MM: My introduction to metal actually came from the lighter end of the spectrum, with bands like Dream Theater, Angra, and Stratovarius. Over time, I’ve gradually moved on to heavier stuff.

MI: Who are some of your influences?

MM: Of course I have my favorite bands that will always influence me, such as Symphony X, Rage, Children of Bodom, Kreator etc. but I’m most influenced by what I’m currently listening to. These days it’s been Amon Amarth, Dark Tranquillity, Freak Kitchen, Death, Nevermore… I could go on, but I’m sure you get the idea :-). As far as guitar playing, there is no way to hide that Michael Romeo is my biggest influence. I really like Victor Smolski, Mattias IA Eklundh, Kiko Lourieiro, Jeff Loomis, and jazz/fusion guitarists like Allan Holdsworth, Frank Gambale, and Shawn Lane.

MI: What do you think of today’s metal scene?

MM: In the US, its better than it’s been in a long time, that’s for sure. I think the most interesting stuff is happening in death metal these days, with bands like Necrophagist, Decapitated, and Arsis reviving the tech-death sound that Death pioneered on their later albums, but putting their own mark on it, of course.

MI: What genre, if any, would you put Dark Empire under? Or how would you describe your style?

MM: We play heavy metal. Plain and simple. Within Dark Empire you will hear a melting pot of prog, power, death, and thrash metal, as I’m influenced by all those genres. Lately, my writing has been leaning towards the heavier end of the spectrum, but I don’t want to limit my creativity by pigeonholing myself into a particular sub genre. It’s all heavy fucking metal to me.

MI: What is the name of the new album and when is it coming out?

MM: The new album is called Humanity Dethroned. I don’t know when it’s coming out yet, but for sure before the end of the year. Right now it’s being mixed.

MI: Can you explain the name of the album and why you chose it? What message is the album supposed to send?

MM: The title track, Humanity Dethroned, refers to the negative effects religion has on society (eh, better to have no religion and be a self-worshipper who is enslaved to any brainfart that comes up, right? – Editor). The album as a whole doesn’t have any specific message. The songs themselves deal with a variety of topics, ranging from war, religion, society, and betrayal. The Apparition Sequence is a fictional series of songs dealing with three separate encounters with the supernatural and spirit world. Haunted is about a man who falls in love with the ghost of a woman, Possessed (We Are One) is about demonic possession, and Closure is about losing a loved one and meeting them again on the other side. (For someone who doesn’t like religion he sure sings about it a lot – Editor).

MI: What can we expect? Can you tell us a little bit about it?

MM: It is a progression from Distant Tides. I didn’t try to rewrite anything, and I tried to give each song its own distinct identity
within the framework of the album.

MI: How is it different from the last one or what did you do differently, if anything?

MM: It is overall less powermetal sounding than Distant Tides, but it is also more thrash and death metal influenced as well as more
progressive sounding.

MI: What are some of your favorite songs on the album and why?

MM: I’m most proud of the songs within The Apparition Sequence, particularly Haunted. That might be my favorite Dark Empire song so far. There’s something in all of the tracks that I really like though.

MI: What are your plans/hopes/goals for dark empire in the future?

MM: You know, it’s funny, Humanity Dethroned is not even finished being mixed and already I’m getting ideas for the next one! I don’t want to say too much right now, since I don’t plan on starting to really write it until this winter, but I’m planning on making it the heaviest album I can possibly write.

MI: Can we look forward to a tour any time soon?

MM: I hope so!

MI: What words of advice would you give to any aspiring guitarists?

MM: Learn from your favorite guitarists, but ultimately strive to be as original as you can.

MI: Anything you want to add?

MM: Thanks for reading! Stay tuned in the next few weeks for some new songs from Humanity Dethroned to receive their debut on our Myspace page.