Suspyre

Suspyre is a band from New Jersey, formed in 2001.

About the band

Suspyre's sound is heavily influenced by a wide variety of musicians and bands; most prominently: Dream Theater, Opeth, Symphony X, Mahler, Stravinsky, Mozart and Bach.

In the summer of 2001 with a jam session at drummer Chris Myers' house with guitarists Gregg Rossetti and Rich Skibinsky. Rich approached Gregg and they conversed. Kevin O'Hara, a singer whose musical interests include The Backstreet Boys and Medieval music, was asked to be the singer. His debut performance was a 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.

When Suspyre started working on their first album, they realized changes needed to be made. Due to the direction in which the recordings were going, the abilities of some members were questioned on how they will fit in the new music. First was the replacement of Chris Myers with Sam Paulicelli, then the replacement of Raffaele Gerace with Clay Barton.

Response to The Silvery Image during this time period was strong. To follow up on a good album, the band sought to make an even better album, A Great Divide. The first half, The Alignment of Galaxies was composed in August 2005, while The Silvery Image was still in its final stages of completion. The second half, The Origin of a Curse was composed in November 2005, when the band decided a full-length was a better idea than just releasing the first half as an EP. During this time Suspyre parted with bassist Kirk Schwenkler. Noah Martin from Atlanta, Georgia was hired to record the album. The permanent replacement for Kirk is now Andrew Distabile, a friend of the band whom actually switched from guitar to bass in order to play.

2007

A Great Divide was finally released on March 20, 2007 through Nightmare Records. To help promote the album, Suspyre traveled to Mokena, Illinois to participate in the Chicago PowerFest 2007.^[1]
After the Chicago Powerfest performance, Sam Paulicelli left the band to pursue other opportunities(eventually joining the black metal band, Abigail Williams) .

2008

The band finished recording their third album, When Time Fades… which was released on Sensory Records on September 30, 2008. Suspyre played with Odin's Court & Dark Empire for two east coast shows the first weekend of August. On August 2, 2008, they announced that April Sese joined the band as their new keyboardist.

Suspyre put on a CD Release Performance/Party with special guest drummer Charlie Zeleny on September 20, 2008 to promote the new album, and traveled to the Netherlands for the ProgPower Europe festival in October 2008 with Zeleny as well.

2009

In January 2009, co-founder/guitarist Rich Skibinsky left the band to pursue other opportunities (joined the punk rock band Kelsey & The Chaos).In February 2009, Suspyre announced a new drummer, Gabe Marshall.

In June 2009, Andrew Distabile, bassist, replaced Rich on guitar. Sam Bhoot joined the band on bass for their debut performance at The Art of Prog Series at the North Star Bar in Philadelphia on July 26, 2009, and the ProgPower USA showcase in Atlanta, GA on September 10, 2009.

Members

Current members

• Gregg Rossetti: Guitar, MIDI sequencing, Alto/Tenor saxophone, Viola da Gamba, Chapman stick
• Clay Barton: Vocals
• Andrew Distabile: Guitar
• Sam Bhoot: Bass
• April Sese: Keyboards
• Gabe Marshall: drums^[2]

Past members

• Rich Skibinsky: Guitars
• Raffaele Gerace: Vocals
• Kirk Schwenkler: Bass
• Chris Myers: Drums
• Sam Paulicelli: Drums and percussion

The Silvery Image

Their debut record, "The Silvery Image" was released in October 2005. It is a 12 track epic with a total run time of 56:36. The album has Progressive, Power Metal, and Classical Elements. There is use of a many instruments and styles, including featuring a saxophone in select songs.

The album was re-mastered and reissued in February 2008. There is a new song included in the new release called "Crimson Shade." Crimson Shade is 4:52 and was written on February 29, 2004 which predates the recording of "The Silvery Image."

A Great Divide

Suspyre's first signed album, released through Nightmare Records. The album's length is 70 minutes. There were some delays with the release due to trouble getting the album art. This effort was more diverse in every sense of the word: long, complicated passages are offset by simpler and shorter pieces; straightforward rhythms alongside super-imposing odd time meters; microtonal clusters and just intonation works around and between 12TET. Listeners will note a balance and interplay of heavy riffs, lush and delicate as well as dissonant/energetic orchestral parts, classic prog and a tasteful use of pastiche. The album hit the top 2007 prog metal album charts on websites such as USA Progressive Music, ProgPalaceRadio.com, and Beyond Ear Candy.

Albums

• The Silvery Image (2005)
• A Great Divide (2007)
• When Time Fades... (2008)
• Suspyre (2012)

References