Empyray is an Armenian rock

Armenian rock

Armenian rock describes a wide variety of forms of rock music made in Armenia or by artists of Armenian descent.Among the most recognized groups of Soviet era were Arthur Meschian's Arakyalner, "1+2", "Kaleidoscope", and "Bliki". Following the loosening of state control in the early 1980s, a number...

 group, working in heavy rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

, hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 genres. Their works are characterized by imposing vocal, surprising melody transitions, thoughtful lyrics in Armenian

Armenian language

The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...

 and English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 languages and complete, harmonic musical forms. The group was formed in 1993 on initiative of Sargis Manoukyan and Karen Arzumanyan. There have been about 50 concerts since than, but they got wide recognition only in 2005. In 2006 Empyray recorded its debut CD album with 13 tracks in the group's own studio, gave its first solo concert and won Armenian National Music Awards in category "Best Rock Band".

Title etymology

"Empyray" is the English transliteration of эмпирей - the Slavonic version of Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 empuros (Latin, empyreus, English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 empyrean

Empyrean

Empyrean, from the Medieval Latin empyreus, an adaptation of the Ancient Greek ἔμπυρος empyrus "in or on the fire ", properly Empyrean Heaven, is the place in the highest heaven, which in ancient cosmologies was supposed to be occupied by the element of fire .-Use in literature:The Empyrean was...

), the highest part of the (supposedly spherical) heavens, thought in ancient times to contain the pure element of fire and by early Christians to be the abode of God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

 and the angels :

Band members

• Sargis Manoukyan - vocalist, band's manager, graduated from university as an economist
  Economist
  An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
  
  , has got 2-year training in vocal under the guidance of Yerevan State Conservatory professor Sergey Danielyan
• Karen Arzoumanyan - guitarist, composer, graduated from university as a medical doctor, has got secondary musical education, is the husband of Gisaneh Palyan
• Gisaneh Palyan - keyboardist, author of lyrics, graduated from Yerevan State Conservatory as a pianist
  Pianist
  A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
  
  , is the wife of Karen Arzoumanyan
• David Khurshudyan - bass guitarist
• Koryun Bobikyan - drummer

Albums

• 2007 - Sev u Spitak (Սև ու սպիտակ)
• 2009 - Hure (Հուր է)
• 2011 - Mekendmisht (ՄՄեկընդմիշտ)