Update and clues on the next album...

[batmura]

Suspyre has officially become my second favourite Sensory band (after the mighty Zero Hour) and this is in no small part to the greatness of When Time Fades. I'll be honest and admit that I've never been crazy of their first two discs because I felt they hadn't established an identity yet, despite flashes of brilliance on either album.

To me, When Time Fades is one of the most underrated albums of the last 5 years, especially given that many prog fans complain about lack of orginality and creativity. Why they haven't entirely picked up on the brilliance of this disc escapes me. I admit it's one of those albums that require repeat listens because of the internal complexity of the songs. However, once you get into it, the album becomes all the more rewarding, revealing subtleties only to the patient listener.

Anyway, the first three albums were released with one-year intervals, so the upcoming disc will definitely be the product of at least three years' work. The band must have matured both musically and technically in the meantime. I'm guessing the way they approach writing a song and all its layers has changed/improved significantly and judging by the material presented on When Time Fades I can't wait to hear what they will come up with next.

If possible, I would really appreciate some clues on what we can expect for the new CD. I realize the songwriting may still be in the works, but a few words on the general direction would be great. Are you guys pursuing a heavier approach for instance? Or is it going to be more experimental with more emphasis placed on dense atmospheric passages? How about the guitar work? Can we expect heavier riffs or lead work? What about the singing?

And a release date too please.

Cheers!

 

[GreggSuspyre]

Suspyre has officially become my second favourite Sensory band (after the mighty Zero Hour) and this is in no small part to the greatness of When Time Fades. I'll be honest and admit that I've never been crazy of their first two discs because I felt they hadn't established an identity yet, despite flashes of brilliance on either album.

To me, When Time Fades is one of the most underrated albums of the last 5 years, especially given that many prog fans complain about lack of orginality and creativity. Why they haven't entirely picked up on the brilliance of this disc escapes me. I admit it's one of those albums that require repeat listens because of the internal complexity of the songs. However, once you get into it, the album becomes all the more rewarding, revealing subtleties only to the patient listener.

Thanks! We all appreciate it, as we put a lot of work into the esoteric piece of work When Time Fades... is. I always found music with subtle nuances that you notice with multiple listens makes for a better listening experience in the long term. Yes, catchy melodies and easily-digestible structures have their merits, but their enjoyment is fleeting. Now...how does one help spread the word?

Anyway, the first three albums were released with one-year intervals, so the upcoming disc will definitely be the product of at least three years' work. The band must have matured both musically and technically in the meantime. I'm guessing the way they approach writing a song and all its layers has changed/improved significantly and judging by the material presented on When Time Fades I can't wait to hear what they will come up with next.

I'm glad you paid attention to the time in between albums, but I wouldn't consider this album a "product of at least three year's work," due to some hiccups in activity to make way for some life-things. Rich left the band after ProgPowerEuropeX (actually, he left a few weeks prior but eventually agreed to play the remaining scheduled shows). In 2009, in frustration in trying to find another guitarist, we dabbled with the idea of me being the only guitarist and rearranging the older songs slightly to provide for missing harmonies. Most of the songs on the new album were written with one guitar in mind, and eventually had to be rewritten when we realized we couldn't be a one-guitar band. To prepare for ProgPowerUSAX, Andrew, whose primary instrument is guitar, worked diligently to decipher the parts, and Sam, an old guitarist-friend of Clay's, tackled the bass lines.

Also around this time, Clay, Andrew, and I were hired to work on the Forever's Edge album, Chaotic Silence. My job was to orchestrate sections of the music, provide some guitar solos, and produce the vocal arrangements. This prevented me from making Suspyre my first priority for months. At the end of the year, I moved my recording studio to a new facility, and took on a handful of new projects. Suspyre accomplished a few things in 2010; we tracked the drums and bass for this album, (along with some guitars, keys and vocals), and played with Shadow Gallery (that show took a lot of preparation as we included songs from every album in our set). Also, as a freelance musician, I spent 2010 composing and producing music for DarkBrain.com; this ate up most of the time I would have allocated to Suspyre. Now that things have lightened up slightly, 2011 is the year for this album!

If possible, I would really appreciate some clues on what we can expect for the new CD. I realize the songwriting may still be in the works, but a few words on the general direction would be great. Are you guys pursuing a heavier approach for instance? Or is it going to be more experimental with more emphasis placed on dense atmospheric passages? How about the guitar work? Can we expect heavier riffs or lead work? What about the singing?

And a release date too please.

Cheers!

I can provide some clues, as it can help one listen to the music through a different lens once it's released. As I said earlier, the music and lyrics were mostly written in 2009, but still get minor revisions as the recording process goes forward. In general, this album is less dark and abstract, but more bright and lucid. That said, there are still some very heavy moments, possibly the heaviest and nastiest we've done. We wanted to back away from the gloomy and grotesque. It's interesting you mention "dense atmospheric passages," because there are some sections when that's exactly what I'm going for...we'll see how it turns out.

In the past few years I haven't really listened to much metal, not because I don't like it anymore, but I was getting tired of only hearing guitars and drums and needed to go on a musical diet. Drastically changing what I'm exposed to had a huge influence on what I wanted to write. When Time Fades... used lots of orchestral instruments and clean guitars to provide more colors, but didn't move away from the heavy crunchy guitars enough to be noticeable. In general, this album yields the bombastic orchestral parts (except for one track...you'll hear it!) for more "ethnic" sections, more groove, and even some funk, thanks to the influence of drummer Gabe Marshall (this is the first album he has recorded with us).

Of course it's cliché to say this is our best album yet...but we're sure it will be. We'll leak another track before it's officially released. Date TBA 2011.

Oh...and it's coming with a DVD too. Just throwing that out there.

 

[batmura]

Gregg,

Thanks a lot for this great post. I'm not so sure if I'd like to see you exploring brighter sounds as I probably love When Time Fades because it is so dark and abstract. For instance, I really like the way the classical themes are interwoven with the fluid jazzy passages and the insanely well played drums. Now that Zeleny is no longer in the band and with a new guitar player, It will definitely be interesting to hear your new work.

On a side note, I just saw you have used so many instruments on When Time Fades, such as the mandolin, the Chapman stick, and fretless bass. They're so subtly integrated into your songcraft it's hard for me to detect them. Can you tell me on which tune(s) you are playing the stick and the fretless bass? What about the mandolin? Is that the folky stuff perhaps?

Also, who's doing the rough back vocals on "The Light of the Fire"? Is that Clay Barton or did you hire someone to provide those effect-laden, somewhat Cynic-like deathy growls? I have been curious as to what you had in mind while using them and can we expect more vocal experimentation on the new disc?

And finally, I am terribly upset to hear Rich Skibinsky has left the band. Why? I will admit that I have never followed Suspyre very closely. I'm not even a big fan of the first two discs, but When Time Fades is strangely addictive. I keep reaching for it. Every time I play it, I am amazed by something else. Lately it's been Zeleny's drumming, or moreso his tone. I kept thinking, "was he instructed to get that tone when they hired him or did he come up with it himself?" I used to think Clay was an average singer at best, but the way he sings has grown so much on me that I would probably refuse to listen to Suspyre if he were to leave the band. His is a voice so great not because of the vocal acrobatics he employs but because of the way he enunciates and adds these totally off-the-wall vocal 'riffs' to the music. The 'chorus' of "Possession" is the kind of singing that I literally hear in my dreams. It's sick.

Well, I have more to say, but I am just rambling, so I'll stop for now. I look forward to reading your reply. Maybe you could also talk a bit about the styles of the new members. I love funky drumming, but at this point can't imagine how they'd fit in with Suspyre's music.

Cheers!

 

[Rev. Clayton]

Gregg,


Also, who's doing the rough back vocals on "The Light of the Fire"? Is that Clay Barton or did you hire someone to provide those effect-laden, somewhat Cynic-like deathy growls? I have been curious as to what you had in mind while using them and can we expect more vocal experimentation on the new disc?

And finally, I am terribly upset to hear Rich Skibinsky has left the band. Why? I will admit that I have never followed Suspyre very closely. I'm not even a big fan of the first two discs, but When Time Fades is strangely addictive. I keep reaching for it. Every time I play it, I am amazed by something else. Lately it's been Zeleny's drumming, or moreso his tone. I kept thinking, "was he instructed to get that tone when they hired him or did he come up with it himself?" I used to think Clay was an average singer at best, but the way he sings has grown so much on me that I would probably refuse to listen to Suspyre if he were to leave the band. His is a voice so great not because of the vocal acrobatics he employs but because of the way he enunciates and adds these totally off-the-wall vocal 'riffs' to the music. The 'chorus' of "Possession" is the kind of singing that I literally hear in my dreams. It's sick.

Cheers!

Howdy and Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Obviously we like to talk about our music...heh.

When Time Fades was a product of the band's environment at the time...Dark lyrics and dark music showed what we were feeling. If that environment had continued we probably wouldn't have continued on as a band, therefore, something had to change. We've always had the motto of never making the same album twice, but we learn something new about ourselves and our interactions with each other everytime we undertake a new album.

I actually just listened to When Time Fades again this weekend and forgot how much I really enjoy listening to that album as a whole. There are some weak songs on my part (imo) which is what I'm focusing on for the 4th album to correct. I'm not the best growl vocalist in the world (please refer to my previous sentence), but I did try my hand in "The Light of the Fire". However, the forever's edge project introduced me to a star that was waiting to be discovered, and rest assured, we will continue to use harsh vocals on the next album.

I never really know the direction the vocal tracks are going to take until we really get in there and get to work. As I hear the songs take shape more and more...I really expect the style to remain close to WTF's, but the entire mood should be a little eaiser to handle. Rest assured though...the complexity is still there, we just realized that WTF is so gloomy that we didn't want to make another one of those albums.

I'm excited to start hearing it all come together in the next few months. WHOO!

Clay

 

[GreggSuspyre]

Gregg,

Thanks a lot for this great post. I'm not so sure if I'd like to see you exploring brighter sounds as I probably love When Time Fades because it is so dark and abstract. For instance, I really like the way the classical themes are interwoven with the fluid jazzy passages and the insanely well played drums. Now that Zeleny is no longer in the band and with a new guitar player, It will definitely be interesting to hear your new work.

Suspyre will never make the same album twice (I just saw that Clay said that as well!). We want to be regarded as a group that creates musical art rather than just another "progressive metal band." The Silvery Image was a more-straightforward "beginner's" album, A Great Divide a darker double-concept album, and When Time Fades... is our experimental abstract album. The next one is more corporeal and explores brighter tonalities, because without bright there is no dark. Balancing dichotomies is the key to creating good art. I love avant-garde progressive music as well, but we can't eat our favorite foods everyday.

On a side note, I just saw you have used so many instruments on When Time Fades, such as the mandolin, the Chapman stick, and fretless bass. They're so subtly integrated into your songcraft it's hard for me to detect them. Can you tell me on which tune(s) you are playing the stick and the fretless bass? What about the mandolin? Is that the folky stuff perhaps?

Who-plays-what-on-each-song is written in the liner notes, but if you don't have them handy: I played fretless bass in the mellower part of Lighted Endrhyme, Chapman Stick in the funky part in Apparitions, and Rich played mandolin in Light of the Fire, Reign, and Fallen Stars. I think there were more...I don't have my copy of the liner notes handy and it's hard to remember!

Also, who's doing the rough back vocals on "The Light of the Fire"? Is that Clay Barton or did you hire someone to provide those effect-laden, somewhat Cynic-like deathy growls? I have been curious as to what you had in mind while using them and can we expect more vocal experimentation on the new disc?

Yep, Clay did all the heavy vocals on the entire album, even the "robot voices." (Our friend Rob Cross did the bass voice in the choir at the end of Lighted Endrhyme, and female vocals were handled by Trisha O'Keefe). The robot idea was just a joke; I was playing with effects on the computer and it was too funny and cheesy to not use. You can't take yourself seriously all the time! Will we have a girl do some vocals as well? We'll find out!

And finally, I am terribly upset to hear Rich Skibinsky has left the band. Why? I will admit that I have never followed Suspyre very closely. I'm not even a big fan of the first two discs, but When Time Fades is strangely addictive. I keep reaching for it. Every time I play it, I am amazed by something else. Lately it's been Zeleny's drumming, or moreso his tone. I kept thinking, "was he instructed to get that tone when they hired him or did he come up with it himself?" I used to think Clay was an average singer at best, but the way he sings has grown so much on me that I would probably refuse to listen to Suspyre if he were to leave the band. His is a voice so great not because of the vocal acrobatics he employs but because of the way he enunciates and adds these totally off-the-wall vocal 'riffs' to the music. The 'chorus' of "Possession" is the kind of singing that I literally hear in my dreams. It's sick.

Rich's departure was pretty sudden. I knew he was getting frustrated with learning all the music; I got a text from him right before quitting that said "I don't know how much more of this I can take," then an e-mail with his resignation later that night. I've played a lot of music in my life, and Suspyre's is by far the hardest. I guess Rich was frustrated with the fact that not everyone knows how much effort we put into it. He's now playing pop music. It's sad that the people that do the least work get the most recognition.

Rich also handled a lot of the mixing and production, which brings us to the drums. He was completely in charge of the sound of the drums by using so many effects and samples, pretty much to the point where the drums aren't really Charlie anymore.

I, too, love when Clay ads those little improvised "riffs" to the music. One of those improvs from Last of the Survivors (from TSI) became this after Rich and I fooled around with it. I'm also a fan of the ones he did at the end of Reign...reminds me of Fiona Apple or an old-timey jazz singer.

Well, I have more to say, but I am just rambling, so I'll stop for now. I look forward to reading your reply. Maybe you could also talk a bit about the styles of the new members. I love funky drumming, but at this point can't imagine how they'd fit in with Suspyre's music.

Cheers!

It's okay if you have more to say; I like hearing from fans because I find opinions interesting! I found it funny that some reviews suggest the album was too long, yet a poll we conducted showed that everyone had a different favorite song. If we had cut one, we would have cut someone's favorite song! If you don't like one, you can hit the "skip" button on your player.

As for styles of new members, Gabe's funky drumming style is just more interesting than constant double-bass pounding. Life needs space between events to be interesting. Andrew's guitar playing is actually pretty similar to Rich's. When dividing up the parts it usually turns out that I have all the clean parts and anything with crazy stretches, while the other player has a lot of the distorted "rhythm" and fast-picking parts. This is the first album written with a keyboard part in every track; the others had mostly programmed parts and occasionally a real keyboard. She spends a lot of time working out fingerings and picking appropriate sounds. We haven't tracked many keyboard parts yet, so hopefully we'll get to that soon!

 

[Cello]

One of those improvs from Last of the Survivors (from TSI) became this after Rich and I fooled around with it.

lol nice

[...] Gabe's funky drumming style is just more interesting than constant double-bass pounding.

Amen to that. After watching the vids Gabe posted of when the drums were tracked, I'm completely convinced that Gabe is the right man for the job.

[...] 2011 is the year for this album!
[...] We'll leak another track before it's officially released. Date TBA 2011.

Does that mean we can expect a late 2011 release date for the album?

However, the forever's edge project introduced me to a star that was waiting to be discovered, and rest assured, we will continue to use harsh vocals on the next album.

Are you talking about Rob (who if I'm correct ended up doing the growls on FE) here Clay?

I'm excited to start hearing it all come together in the next few months. WHOO!

Just as excited to hear the progress of the entire band when we get to listen to the new album Leaked tracks only raise the excitement, imo


btw, batmura, here's one of the vids Gabe posted of the drum recordings (check out the other stuff he has uploaded too!). This one gets totally awesome from about a minute in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V2DKtoubg4

 

[Rev. Clayton]

Are you talking about Rob (who if I'm correct ended up doing the growls on FE) here Clay?

Nothing's final...but we plan to bring him in and experiment. I can't state enough that while the mood of this album isn't quite as dreadful as when time fades...there will be some HEAVY parts.

 

[GreggSuspyre]

Does that mean we can expect a late 2011 release date for the album?

Can't say for sure, but hopefully earlier. I've got a checklist going and we're more than halfway there and progress (on my part) has picked up a lot in the past few weeks.

 

[batmura]

Are you talking about Rob (who if I'm correct ended up doing the growls on FE) here Clay?

Who is Rob? Clay just told me the harsh vocals were done by himself.

Btw that drum video is great. I like his style. Thanks for the link, bro.

 

[Cello]

Who is Rob? Clay just told me the harsh vocals were done by himself.

Btw that drum video is great. I like his style. Thanks for the link, bro.

Was referring to what Clay said about discovering a talent during his time with Forever's Edge. Clay did the vocals for them and in the end Rob (an unknown in the metal world and a friend to Sal Pisano, who's the driving force behind Forever's Edge) did the growls on the Forever's Edge debute album. He appears on stage around 4:50 into the vid here, though you can't really hear him very well:



Can hear him better on the myspace page, same song ("Damnation - We Rise"), about 5:30 into the song. Very deep, death growls.

Clay did the harse vocals on WTF, but I figured that since he said he himself isn't the best growl vocalist (I liked the ones on WTF myself, btw) and he was talking about new talent he discovered during his time with FE, I assumed he meant Rob. Hence the comment I'd personally be perfectly happy with Clay doing it all himself again as well

 

[Rev. Clayton]

Clay did the harse vocals on WTF, but I figured that since he said he himself isn't the best growl vocalist (I liked the ones on WTF myself, btw) and he was talking about new talent he discovered during his time with FE, I assumed he meant Rob. Hence the comment I'd personally be perfectly happy with Clay doing it all himself again as well

I'm glad that you liked my vocals, but I'm always looking for what I think will make the music shine the best. I think I did an ok job with them, but feel that Rob's growls will help the fourth album's heavy parts achieve what I hear in my head. I just don't think I captured what I was fully going for in when time fades...not that they're bad...just not what I fully wanted to present.

I still plan to do other screams on the album when needed...so I should still be present in those areas.

This album is going to be a rollercoaster...and for those of you that enjoy a wild ride, you will not be disappointed.

Clay

 

[voodoo]

........This album is going to be a rollercoaster...and for those of you that enjoy a wild ride, you will not be disappointed.

Clay

Oh, happy day!!

 

[Boberto]

I'm glad that you liked my vocals, but I'm always looking for what I think will make the music shine the best. I think I did an ok job with them, but feel that Rob's growls will help the fourth album's heavy parts achieve what I hear in my head. I just don't think I captured what I was fully going for in when time fades...not that they're bad...just not what I fully wanted to present.

I still plan to do other screams on the album when needed...so I should still be present in those areas.

This album is going to be a rollercoaster...and for those of you that enjoy a wild ride, you will not be disappointed.

Clay

Clay, I've always said that you have bad ass screams man. Suzanne and I used to talk about how we wished you screamed more often on the Suspyre records cause they are awesome. It's Rob by the way, just so you didn't think like "who is this dude randomly commenting me." Hahaha.

 

[GreggSuspyre]

Clay, I've always said that you have bad ass screams man. Suzanne and I used to talk about how we wished you screamed more often on the Suspyre records cause they are awesome. It's Rob by the way, just so you didn't think like "who is this dude randomly commenting me." Hahaha.

I, too, enjoy many of Clay's screams. During The Silvery Image recording sessions we used to have to tracks labeled "Growls," "Meshuggah," and "Devin [Townsend]" and have him layer all those styles. Clay will still do his deal of harsh vocals, but we all can't wait to hear you on a Suspyre song, Rob!

 

[voodoo]

I also always enjoyed the "Meshuggah" vocals. Gave the songs a nice edge.

 

[Boberto]

I, too, enjoy many of Clay's screams. During The Silvery Image recording sessions we used to have to tracks labeled "Growls," "Meshuggah," and "Devin [Townsend]" and have him layer all those styles. Clay will still do his deal of harsh vocals, but we all can't wait to hear you on a Suspyre song, Rob!

Oh trust me Gregg, I can't wait to record. I actually love the recording process the most cause it's always a fun time. It won't be rushed either for time like with Forever's Edge. I have a bit more experience and understanding from working with Clay too from the two live shows so hopefully I can do better for you guys. Thank you so much Gregg and Clay for this opportunity, it is a great honor.

 

[Cello]

Very nice Rob Looking forward to your work on the album

 

[Boberto]

Very nice Rob Looking forward to your work on the album

Thanks a lot dude. I appreciate that very much.

 

[batmura]

Hey Gregg,

Are you guys fans of Meshuggah and Devin Townsend? I love both. Do you think you were influenced by either and does it show on WTS? Also, what are your favourites by them? I consider Terria one of the greatest albums of all time personally.

Cheers!

 

[Rev. Clayton]

Hey Gregg,

Are you guys fans of Meshuggah and Devin Townsend? I love both. Do you think you were influenced by either and does it show on WTS? Also, what are your favourites by them? I consider Terria one of the greatest albums of all time personally.

Cheers!

I'm a huge fan of both. Devin is actually my favorite all-around musician and one of my top 3 vocalists (Allen and Lande being the other 2).

My favorite Devin Album is actually Synchestra, but Terria is a very close second. I think they are both brilliantly put together albums. Devin, IMHO, is the only singer I know that can pull off every kind of voicing I want to hear. He can sing amazing beautiful ballads and then follow it up with the most ear piercing screams/growls possible. Russel is my favorite singer just because of the tone and control...but Devin is usually who I look up to because he's got such a variety of ways to present himself through his vocals and music.

I love Meshuggah and actually prefer their mid career albums the most (Destroy, Erase, Improve and Chaosphere) however, Nothing - current albums have really been growing on me since I saw them live last year. I still prefer the two previous albums first though.