EMPYRIA

Empyria is a progressive power metal band, formed in 1991 by Mike Kischnick, Paul Falcon, and Simon Adam in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The first album (8-song cassette), Ornamental Ironworks, was released in 1993, featuring a progressive rock influence. Behind Closed Doors, which featured a more progressive metal sound and was their first actual label release, was released in 1996 on the Noise Records (Germany) record label.

In 1997, original singer/bassist Falcon left the band and was replaced by Phil Leite (vocals) and Ken Firomski (bass). The third album, Changing Currents, was released in 1998 independently and distributed by Nightmare Records (U.S.A.).

In 2000, The Legacy was released by Nightmare Records (USA). It featured for the first time all four parts of Empyria's The Lighter Sides of Darkness as a continuous 25-minute epic, plus a cover of The Police's "Synchronicity II".

The next album, Sense Of Mind, from 2002, continued the vein of the previous album in general, adding more melody to the songs.

In 2003, Empyria took a long hiatus due to Kischnick's involvement in 5 albums and 2 tours with Canadian Metal band Thor and various other projects.The three remaining members — Leite, Adam, and Firomski - continued to work on various music projects, shows/bands.

In 2009, Empyria released "The Long Road Home" through Nightmare Records, with the return of Falcon (bass), Phil Leite (vocals), Kischnick (guitars/synth) and new drummer Scott Gamble. The album saw a return back to their progressive rock & metal influences.^[3]

The band is currently recording a couple of new tracks for the upcoming re-issue of BCD/CC with Simon Adam and Ken Firomski.

Studio albums

• Ornamental Ironworks (1993 (8-song cassette)
• Behind Closed Doors (1996) (Noise/T&T Records)
  
• Changing Currents (1998) (Empyria/Nightmare Records)
• The Legacy (2000) (Nightmare Records)
  
• Sense Of Mind (2002) (Scrape Records)
  
• The Long Road Home (2009) (Nightmare Records)