"The secret is to not sit back under the thousand labels that media can give you," says guitarist Simone Mularoni of empYrios' music philosophy. "Everyone tends to associate a band to a single musical genre, but we want to break this habit. If I want to write a Fear Factory kinda thing and then put a [Yngwie Malmsteen] kinda solo right after that, I wanna be able and free to do that!"

EmpYrios might not be a household name in the United States -- yet -- but that's all likely to change with the band's newest release 'The Glorious Sickness.' The Italian metallers are working hard to gain a following in Europe and hopefully beyond with diligent practice and a ruthless work ethic. Smartly drawing their name from Dante's 'Divine Comedy,' the word 'empYrios' represents one of the ceilings of Heaven. The space between Heaven and Earth is where empYrios hopes to capture the essence of their sound.

"It's just an ethereal space that we thought could explain our music," Mularoni admits.

'The Glorious Sickness' is heavier and more technically complex than the debut '... And the Rest Is Silence,' a change Mularoni says was deliberate and more "representative of the empYrios sound." The album is a mix of hardcore metal guitar solos, synthesizers, crushing lyrics, some techno sensibilities ... and just a little prog thrown in for fun. All told, it's an eclectic mix that works. Good thing, too, because the four guys that comprise empYrios have big hopes for the future.

"I hope in the next year with the new album we'll be in the biggest festivals in Europe!" Mularoni says excitedly. "The big problem is that music sales are really going down right now, so it's very difficult to enter into the world of 'elite' metal bands. It's very difficult for a newcomer European band to play in U.S.A. You know, the traveling costs are very expensive ... but we're working as hard as we can to make it possible!"

'The Glorious Sickness' is available now via Scarlet Records.

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