Interview by Boris Todorovic for the web zine, Hard and Heavy.

Atmospheric doom metal band from USA, Fall Of Empyrean, was formed back in 1999. by Justin Burning. After a year, he completed the lineup with Steven Henson (drums), Adam Russell (guitar), Richard Medinu (vocals) and Dan Sobeck (bass). This lineup recorded self-titled demo... dark, depressive... melancholic and relaxing tunes, mixed with powerfull and raw guitars... In december of 2002, second demo, "Anhedonia" was released. I asked Justin if he was in to for an interview, to tell us more about Fall Of Empyrean works and music...

Haug! How are you doing? What's currently going on inside the Fall Of Empyrean?
Justin: "At the moment, we're sort of taking a break from the live scene and most other activities to work on a load of new material for a full-length album. We have three songs done, and another six that we're working on. We plan to record our debut album in the early part of 2004, if all goes well. Also, we are working on some licensing deals - both domestically and in some places abroad. New merchandise will also be on the way soon enough."

Your latest release was "Anhedonia" and it has been almost a year since it was released. Are you happy with the reactions and critics?
Justin: "As far as fans and critics are concerned, we are very pleased with the reactions we've been getting. Every review has been positive, although some more positive than others. Unfortunately, we haven't received strong responses from labels, and therefore, we don't have any real financial backing for recording our album. We don't really want to record yet another demo, so we're taking the path of recording on our own, if we can manage the finances."

Where did you record it? Is it home-made demo, or you entered a profi-studio for recording of it?
Justin: "We recorded "Anhedonia" at a local studio called Studio-Z. We were very pleased with the result, for the most part. It was a professional studio and cost us a good amount of money, but the engineer knew what he was doing, and he was a very pleasant guy to work with. We'll probably record our album there, or at least part of it."

What do you think about the final product - production, sound of the demo overall..?
Justin: "Like I said, we're very pleased overall. I think we could have gotten a better guitar sound, a thicker one. Also, the drums could have used more reverb. Everything else sounded great."

What did you guys do in last year? Have you been playing much, or just concentrating on new songs?
Justin: "We've mainly been promoting "Anhedonia" with some shows. Although Fall of Empyrean tends to not play a lot of shows. We like to keep people eager for our next show, so we've only played 6 shows or so in the last year. Now, it's all about developing new material."

Talking about songs, do you have much of them? Any plans for recording some new stuff any time soon?
Justin: "Well, we have 8 actual songs (not including instrumentals) recorded right now, and another 8 written for guitar (but not yet developed with all the instruments in place). I am working on an all-acoustic song now, and our other guitarist is also writing a few more. Plus, we have another two that are just sitting around and may or may not be used again. Like I said earlier, we're going to try to record our first full-length album early in 2004, and it should be excellent, since we're all very proud of the new material we're writing."

When did you parted with your original guitarist, Adam Russell? What was the reason behind this departure?
Justin: "He had plans to go to a different state to attend college, and we decided as a band to just end our working relationship sooner than later, so we could begin developing material for "Anhedonia" and so we could begin looking for a new, more permanent guitarist. Who knew it would take another half a year to find one?"

How are the things going on with Cristobal Flix now?
Justin: "He's worked out really well. He's a great guitarist and his writing style fits right in, and is, in fact, a bit darker than the material I write, so it gives us a slightly different vibe. Plus, he's a great guy and really dedicated to the band, as well as very enthusiastic."

"Anhedonia" is a bit different from self-titled demo, more progressive and complex as far as you ask me, but since I'm doing this interview (haha), tell us more about your opinion of the second demo? How different do you find it and what changes have you noticed in Fall Of Empyrean's music?
Justin: "I definitely agree with you. It was our intention to make the material more complex. However, I do think the music suffered a little as a result. The music on "Anhedonia" is less dark and depressing, I think, than our first demo, and also faster. However, we're working on correcting this in future material, slowing it all down. But, the material is just as complex, if not more so."

Depressive and dark, simply doom metal... but is that all behind the work of Fall Of Empyrean? What kind of message do you want to tell us? Any philosophy behind your lyrics?
Justin: "I wouldn't say we have a deep message we want to pass off onto our audience. It's our intent to depress the listener, and to help them channel their darker emotions. Outside of this, I don't think we're out to change the world. We just love playing sad, dark music and we want to pass it on to others with similar tastes."

So who actually writes them? And who does the music? Is music more like collective work, or a work of one/few individuals?
Justin: "Richard, our vocalist, writes almost all the lyrics, but Steve (drummer) occasionally writes something if he gets in the mood. I used to write all the guitar lines (on our two demos), but now, Cris and I pretty much split things equally. On our upcoming album, I'll have 5 songs or so, and Cris will have four, probably. Past the guitar work, everyone else writes their own respective parts."

Since you found keyboardist Kevin Leeds, will you be incorporating more of them into your music?
Justin: "Oddly enough, our new material will probably have less prominent keyboards, since the guitars will be really layered and there may not be a whole lot of room left for keys. We haven't really thought much of the keys yet, so we'll see."

Where do you find inspirations? Do you think you have to try to search for them, to dedicate part of your time to finding something that can inspire you; or it is just a matter of letting the inspiration come to your mind?
Justin: "I generally get inspired by what I am listening to. Sometimes movies get me in the mood to write material, but that's more rare. I am not a very sad person, so I can't derive much inspiration from my life, but I still think I have a good ear for stuff that sounds depressing. But, if I am not feeling inspired, I really can't write anything. I write fairly slow."

Are you, or any other members, involved in any side-projects?
Justin: "I want to do a side project, something more ambient, possibly just with keyboards, or just acoustic instruments. I think Rich and Cris are working on a death metal project, but that's all I know of."

What drives you on to creating more music? Do you have some goals you want to achieve, or wishes that can be fulfilled at some point?
Justin: "Really all I want to do with this band is record, release, and play music I love. It's an outlet for me, as it is with most musicians, I think. I am convinced we're not going to make a dime with Fall of Empyrean, but I'll be happy if we can break even while recording, releasing, and playing music. I just like the guys in the band and like the music, and that's all I need."

Any plans for the future activities? Will there be more gigs, or more creative times?
Justin: "There might be one or two gigs while we're getting our album ready, but that's it. We're really taking a break to get this stuff together. It takes a while with six guys in the band."

That would be all for this interview and I hope this is not the last time I will hear from you. I'll be keeping my eyes on your music guys. Keep doing good job! Stay in FULL METAL!
Justin: "Thanks, man! We will try to stay as metal as possible, but also expand ourselves. We appreciate the interview!"