DARK EMPIRE, Long Island, NY based guitarist Matt Moliti, vocalist Jens Carlsson (PERSUADER, SAVAGE CIRCUS) and bassist Noah Martin (ARSIS), have announced that Sam Paulicelli, of the New Jersey based ProgMetal outfit SUSPYRE, is the band's new drummer.

The band recently conducted a search to find the replacement for Teemu Tahkanen, who parted ways with the band recently.

Matt Moliti comments on Sam's addition to the band, "Noah got us in touch with Sam through working with Suspyre on their latest album. He sent me some videos that Sam had uploaded on myspace and I was absolutely blown away. This kid is a monster drummer, and I really feel he has the chops and versatility to take Dark Empire to the next level. It's funny because we were gearing up to have a whole audition process and wound up not having to need any of it."

Sam, who's been in Suspyre since 2005 was already familiar with Dark Empire's music: "When Noah flew up to Jersey to record bass for the new Suspyre album, he showed me some new Dark Empire material, and I was an instant fan. I am even more excited now that I am actually joining the band. I know that the next album is going to kick some major ass, and I am very much looking forward to working with Matt, Noah and Jens in creating this masterpiece."

Aside from announcing the new drummer, Dark Empire is also proud to officially announce the details of their upcoming album, entitled Humanity Dethroned.

The tracklist, that may still not be in the definitive order, is as follows: 'Eyes Of Defiance', 'No Sign Of Life', 'Humanity Dethroned', 'The Forgotten Sin', 'Faded Dreams', 'Salvation Denied', The Apparition Sequence: 'I Prelude' (instrumental), 'II Haunted', 'III Possessed (We Are One)', 'IV Closure', 'The Knife' (GENESIS cover).

"Overall, the sound is much heavier than Distant Tides, with less PowerMetal elements and more thrash, prog, and even some melodic death creeping into the mix. There is also more interplay between clean and death vocals, and that appears in almost every song on the album. I really feel like I've come a long way with my songwriting since I wrote Distant Tides, and I can safely say that Humanity Dethroned is going to completely smoke it," said Matt about his new creation.

"The Apparition Sequence is a series of songs that segue and are tied by the common theme of each one having to deal with some sort of supernatural encounter. The Knife is a song I've wanted to cover for a really long time. I'm a huge fan of Peter Gabriel era Genesis, and I always thought this track would lend itself to an awesome metal rendition. This will probably wind up as a bonus track. I'll write more about each individual track in a studio diary to be posted on our website very soon, to keep everyone up to speed," Matt finalized.

The band will start rehearsing next month, and tracking begins in January. Production duties will once again be handled by Jeremy Krull.