Suspyre
A Great Divide

By Dan H.

 
Nightmare Records, 2006
Style: Progressive metal with heavy jazz and classical influences
Compares to: Symphony X or Pyramaze if they existed in the 1930s.


It all started in the summer of 2001 with a jam session at drummer Chris Myers' house with guitarists Gregg Rossetti and Rich Skibinsky. Rich approached Gregg after seeing him sport one of his numerous Blind Guardian t-shirts and began a metal conversation, since people with good taste in music seem to be few and far between. Screen names were eventually swapped and the jam session took place. To begin this band played on chord progressions in E minor and Gregg played natural minor runs while Rich sweeped diatonic arpeggios over the respective chords and Chris double kicked with two feet on one pedal. It was metal. Gregg's friend Kevin O'Hara, a singer whose musical interests include The Backstreet Boys and Medieval music, asked to be the singer. His debut performance was a mind-blowing metal version of "The Star-Spangled Banner," America's National Anthem. Gregg left for college in August while Rich and Chris were still in high school and Kevin was still mooching off of his rich roommate. Time passed...


"Forever the Voices" opens up the album with a dissonant collection of sounds that soon turns into a very sad classical introduction that's about one minute long. This is followed by "The Singer", a somewhat unoriginal sounding nine minute track. Something clearly sounds missing here; it seems toned down and missing an "edge"; namely, aggressive drumming. Stylistically, it very much resembles a song by Suspyre's fellow New Jersey prog metal band Symphony X. Perhaps that connection is easy to make because lead singer Clay Barton's singing voice and style are very similar to that of Russell Allen. (The later track "Manipulation in Time" is a much better Symphony X imitation.)     The next track, "The Spirit", is even more toned down. It's a slower song, and even features Gregg Rosetti's signature saxophone. Saxophones are not unheard of in progressive metal (Dream Theater's "Another Day" comes to mind), but in my opinion, there is a reason that this is not the case. This song may come across as "sad but pretty" in a similar manner to A Perfect Circle's "3 Libras", but I find it more dull than anything. I will say, however, that the saxophone intro to "Alterations of the Ivory" is not bad ."Resolution" is another quiet track that is perhaps most notable for its lack of electric guitars (though the Spanish-style acoustic guitars aren't bad) and its bringing Suspyre the distinction of being the prog metal band whose group vocals sound most like a barbershop quartet.     "Galactic Backward Movements" is a better track. It's an instrumental that clocks in at just under ten minutes. It's somewhat spacy, and very string heavy; at parts, it's little more than a classical ensemble with multiple string instruments, and what appears to be a clarinet. (Of course, classical influences are essential to this genre of music.) Three minutes in, the guitars kick back in along with some drumming that is the most aggressive so far in the album. The transition is abrupt, in a way that any true prog metal fan would appreciate. There is some very fast guitar soloing in there, and the song ends up being a soloing free for all that's maybe a bit too long.
The guitars on this album are not bad when the band unleashes them, but these moments seem few and far in between. One of the most notable tracks for this is "Subliminal Delusions", but even it lets up a couple of times. Ironically, in my view, the album highlight ends up being a purely classical piece: the dramatic, foreboding, and borderline creepy "Bending the Violet". The sad mood continues on the jazzy "The Piano Plays at Last". I love metal, I love jazz, and I love classical; but the three simply shouldn't mix.
The bottom line is that, in this reviewer's opinion, the band can't make up its mind about what it wants to play. Many people love this
band for its jazz-fusion, classical, and metal influences all together, but this album doesn't portray the band as particularly
adept at any of these styles, with the possible exception of classical. This album might be good for playing for your mother who
loves classical music and hoping to show her that metal isn't as bad as she thinks, but little more; it's not brutal or heavy, or even
necessarily that catchy as far as melodic elements go.
LYRICALLY: This is a concept album about a piano-playing girl named April and her death. There's nothing offensive here, but nothing out of the ordinary that stands out as particularly deep when I read through them, either. It's neutral and lukewarm, much like the rest of the album.