Fortress of Empyrean

It feels like several years since I saw Fortress of Empyrean, I believe was several years at The Slidebar, in Fullerton. Even then, I could tell that the band has drastically changed in sound and style, with a Progressive sense of melody and variance within the musicians. The “Terminator Theme Song” intro, was an excellent touch, I might add. Javier Cortez led the charge from impaling screams, to clean vocals around the 80s era, in terms of the higher-register, as well as the melodies and generally clean arpeggios, he was performing with Chris Manriquez and Rudy Ramirez on guitar. With that said, there’s a reason having 3 guitar players is quite rare in Metal, especially when Iron Maiden is generally the first band we mostly think of, in that respect. Although Javier played some leads and harmonies along the other guitarists, there were instances of him not playing, but singing instead. No need to use the guitar as a prop. The surprise of their set, a cover of Megadeth – “Tornado of Souls”. It’s rare to see a Megadeth cover, as making your own/staying true to Mustaine’s vocal style, isn’t as easy as the haters performed amazingly, the cover was more than done well, and the audience had a blast during it. Overall, the musicianship and the number of dynamic changes, between the clean moments and distorted elements, Fortress of Empyrean displayed their Progressive Metal sound nicely. - Metalchondria

Fortress of Empyrean

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in your band, and how long the band has been together.
Javier Cortez, vocalist/guitarist. 2022 marks 10 years for Fortress of Empyrean.

How did you wind up being connecting with Metal Assault Records?
Andrew actually booked us to play one of his shows at The Slide Bar in Fullerton in 2018. Since then we just saw Metal Assault grow more and more. It seemed inevitable that we would cross paths once again and we did.

What is the name of your current or upcoming album or EP and what inspired the title?
Very good question. We are actually in preproduction and entering the studio at the end of January. We have a couple working titles at the moment. Nothing set in stone just yet.

What are you looking forward to the most about playing the Metal Assault 12 Year Anniversary Fest?
We look forward to playing outside of our bubble that is the LA area. A weekend of awesome bands is definitely exciting. We look forward to doing what we do in Palmdale.

Select two songs you might be playing at the Metal Assault 12 Year Anniversary Fest and what inspired the lyrics.
We are currently working on a setlist, but I can probably say “Fall in Line” will be on there. Lyrics are about the control and manipulation in society. Another song we will most likely throw in the mix is “Savior”. The song is basically about a bad relationship.

What could one expect from your live show at the Metal Assault 12 Year Anniversary Fest?
You can expect us to do what we always do, play our asses off and have fun while doing it.

What’s up next for your band after the Metal Assault 12 Year Anniversary Fest?
Well like I said before, we I’ll be taking a break from the studio to play this fest. So, after this show we get back to work and finish up recording the album.

(Interview by Ken Morton) - Highwire Daze (Ken Morton)

US Progressive Metal band Fortress of Empyrean published the official music video for “Illusive” taken from new album “Synchronized Demise” out on June 02, 2023. Watch the video thgrough the YouTube player below: - Progressive Rock Journal