Empire is a British-German heavy metal band founded in 2000 by former

Majesty Majesty (abbreviated HM for His Majesty or Her Majesty, oral address Your Majesty; from the Latin , meaning ) is used as a manner of address by many monarchs, usually kings or queens. Where used, the style outranks the style of ''(Imperial/Roy ...

guitarist, Rolf Munkes.CAMION BLANC: BLACK SABBATH La bête venue de Birmingham Guillaume Roos " Empire : Hypnotica (2001) Company Of The Snakes : Here They Go Again (2001) " Munkes was joined by bassist Neil Murray, singer

Lance King Lance King (born November 23, 1962) is an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter known for his work in progressive and power metal. He has performed with bands including Balance of Power, Pyramaze, and Gemini, and founded Nightmare Reco ...

and drummer Gerald Kloos. The band recorded their first album ''Hypnotica'' in 2001. In 2003, Munkes published another album, with the addition of ex-Black Sabbath singer Tony Martin on vocals and keyboardist

Don Airey Donald Smith Airey (born 21 June 1948) is an English musician. He came to prominence as the keyboardist of the rock band Rainbow during 1979–1982. He has been the keyboardist of Deep Purple, the band from which Rainbow was a spinoff, since 2 ...

. The album was called ''Trading Souls''. Airey left the band before the recording of the third Empire album, ''The Raven Ride'' (2006). With the exception of Airey and the new drummer André Hilgers, the line up of the band was identical to ''Trading Souls''. For the 2007 album ''Chasing Shadows'', Munkes employed a new singer,

Doogie White Douglas "Doogie" White (born 7 March 1960) is a Scottish rock vocalist who currently sings for La Paz. He has also notably sung for Rainbow (rock band), Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Michael Schenker, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Praying Ma ...

Members

;Current members *Rolf Munkes - guitars (2000-present) * Neil Murray - bass (2000-present) *André Hilgers - drums (2006-present) *

- vocals (2007-present) ;Former members *

- vocals (2000-2003) *Gerald Kloos - drums (2000-2006) * Tony Martin - vocals (2003-2007) *

- keyboards (2003-2006)

Timeline

Discography

* ''Hypnotica'' (2001) * ''Trading Souls'' (2003) * ''The Raven Ride'' (2006) * ''Chasing Shadows'' (2007)

References

{{Authority control English hard rock musical groups German hard rock musical groups Musical groups established in 2000