Fresh Talent
Dead Empires: New Name, New EP
March 14, 2012 Nicola  |
Dead Empires are a six-piece metal band from the Midlands. They hope a recent name change will herald exciting developments.
Dead Empires are a Midlands based six-piece metal/hardcore band from Warwickshire who have been performing local gigs in their home towns for the past year. Recently, they have been touring up and down the country at small, local venues and 2012 sees them excited for new prospects.
Dead Empire’s influences are spread across several genres and include a diverse range of bands and artists such as Bring Me the Horizon, the Devil Wears Prada, Parkway Drive, the Ghost Inside, For the Fallen Dreams, Skrillex, Pendulum, 30 Seconds to Mars, Example, Muse and Ed Sheeran.
The band first formed in January 2011 under the name Save the Heavens, and consisted of drummer Zach Edwards, lead guitarist Kyle McLellan, rhythm guitarist Chris Harrison, bassist Jake Hollis and vocalist Marcus Bennett. Jake was later replaced by Si Louis, their current bassist. 2012 saw the band change their name to Dead Empires and welcome new member Ash Rye (synths and programming).
Band members Zach Edwards and Chris Harrison met each other through a website called www.joinmyband.co.uk. They then decided to meet up, each bringing another member along (Kyle McLellan and former member Jake Hollis). The four later got in contact with Marcus Bennett and decided to use his vocals. January 2012 also welcomed Ash Rye to the newly renamed band.
Join My Band is a great website for new musicians and Dead Empires would highly recommend it to individual musicians looking to form a band anywhere in the UK. According to drummer Zach, the site is “great for starting bands” [and his] “is the proof” [of that].
The band’s status has escalated rapidly after their formation in 2010, and in their former guise of Save the Heavens, they were lucky to share the stage with Tides of Virtue, We are Fiction, Polar, This Distance, I Defy, and Desolated. Under their new name, Dead Empires have already played numerous shows in the country, in locations such as Birmingham, Leicester, Redditch and Worcester. Though the band play mostly Midlands-based shows, they are looking to expand to other venues in the UK.
The band are making the most of their new identity and are set to have a busy 2012. They are currently writing new material ready to head into the studio to record their debut EP, which will be followed by a music video and a single, along with a new range of merchandise. “Next year we want to promote ourselves by touring and releasing some new music,” states Zach.
Dead Empires can be contacted at [email protected]. For full details on tour dates, new music, photos and updates on the band’s progress visit www.facebook.com/deadempiresuk.
By Jaye Plant
[Image courtesy of Dead Empires]
