Fall of Empyrean began in 1999, as founding member Justin Burning set out to gather musicians to mold the atmospheric dirges he had been inspired to create, influenced by such bands as Agalloch, My Dying Bride, October Tide, Katatonia, Skepticism, Evoken, Opeth, and the like.
After an exhaustive and frustrating yearlong search through newspaper ads and friends, Justin finally enlisted drummer Steven Henson (formerly of Hidden Gateway and Brimstone), guitarist Adam Russell, vocalist Richard Medina (formerly of Nuctemeron and member of Occision), and, later, bassist Dan Sobeck. The quintet moved enthusiastically forward, composing a slew of melancholy songs, soon setting four of them to tape, to bring their first demo cd to fruition. Following the release of this first self-titled demo in the summer of 2001, the band played a couple of live shows and strove to bring their music to the attention of various labels, with no substantial success.
Due to time constraints and the decision to leave the state for his education, Adam Russell eventually parted, with a mutual friendship between he and the band still in place. The decision to replace Adam was delayed until after the band could record a new release, thus delaying any live shows. During this downtime, the band decided to release some merchandise, including stickers and shirts, as well as promote the band and expand their fan-base.
After some difficulty securing a rehearsal studio, as well as other obstacles, the band finally entered Studio-Z/Pipeline Audio in June of 2002 to record their follow-up EP and circulate their incarnation of atmospheric doom metal.
After numerous delays with the duplication company, Anhedonia was finally released in December 2002.
Following the release of their second demo, they recruited guitarist Cristobal Félix -- formerly of local bands Blood Haven and Darkened Dreams -- enabling the band to promote "Anhedonia" in a live setting.
While awaiting label and zine responses to their newest release, the band played various shows around Arizona, even opening for one of their favorite bands, Agalloch.
Fall of Empyrean soon began to actively seek a keyboardist again, this time finding one -- Kevin Leeds, of the local band, Kilk. With a full line-up, the band set out to play more shows, able to play their music as it was meant to be played.
Source: http://www.fallofempyrean.com/
