2006-12-31
New Jersey's Suspyre have concocted quite a potent debut album here, a combination of neo-classical power metal with prog elements. Most of the time, the album works great.
One thing that immediately elevates this band above many others is the playing ability by all band members, mainly by the two guitarists, the main instrument in this kind of music. Another plus is the strong vocalist; Clay Burton has a strong, mid-range voice with just the right amount of grit, as long as he doesn’t exert himself too much with annoying high notes he fits the music well.
The album has plenty of material, out of the 12 tracks 9 are full length songs clocking around 6 minutes, and they all feature some solid musicianship. The first two tracks are also among the best in the album,
Malmsteen-like neo classical lead work with plenty of support from the tight rhythm section. "Distant Skies" also benefits from a strong chorus.
The bits I didn’t like as much were the ones where the band inserts too many elements into their music, like the use of a saxophone on "The Breath Of Gloria", overall my least favorite track here.
Dream Theater tried that in Images And Words, and there it also came out as kitsch.
Some of the heavier tracks are among the best, such as the heavy "Serpent I Am", just the right combination of neo-classical playing with a strong melodic line, when the band focuses itself in that direction, they create some truly memorable songs.
This is certainly quite an achievement for an unsigned band, well played, well produced, it’s a mature and interesting release, I would harness the band's musical proficiency a bit and keep them more focused around one genre, but I guess these guys can pull off almost every musical direction they decide to turn to, and this is well worth the listen for melodic metal fans out there.
Alon Miasnikov
