What do Suspyre members and fans think of these bands?

batmura

Sea of Tranquility
Nov 1, 2001
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www.seaoftranquility.org
I would like to hear Suspyre members and their fans' thoughts on the following bands. It'd be cool if you also mentioned your favourite albums by them:

Opeth
Meshuggah
Devin Townsend
Threshold
Savatage
Dream Theater
Zero Hour
Vanden Plas
OSI
Vanden Plas
Symphony X

Why these bands? Well, because they're bands I love and somehow liken to Suspyre, moreseo in terms of feel rather than musically.
 
Opeth - Awesome band. I'm partial to the album Blackwater Park, with Bleak my favorite song.

Meshuggah - have heard a little bit here and there and not quite my thing.

Devin Townsend - hit and miss for me. Some songs are really good, some not so good.

Threshold - haven't listened to Threshold in a long time. good band, but not one I go searching for very often. Into the Sun is a great song, though.

Savatage - one of my all time favorites. LOVE Hall of the Mountain King and Streets. Among my favorite songs are Hounds, New York City (don't mean nothin), Strange Wings..... I could go on and on and on.

Dream Theater - another one of my favorites but I feel with there past few releases they lost something. The songwriting wasn't quite as good and the production felt cold. Awake is their best overall, IMO. Favorite songs include Home, Caught in a Web, Octavarium, Lines in the Sand, Metropolis, Learning to Live.

Zero Hour - I have one (maybe 2?) CD's but hardly listen to them. Not a bad band, but I just stray towards something else.

Vanden Plas - Getting better with age. There last 2 were real good, but Far Off Grace is my favorite.

OSI - haven't listened to anything except 1 or 2 songs. not bad....

Symphony X - Paradise Lost was a great album. Set the World on Fire and Domination are 2 killer tracks. Like Vanden Plas, got better with age.
 
Opeth - Have all albums: Deliverance is easily my favorite album...and the song is amazing. I feel like Opeth is probably one of the best "metal" acts today and I say that without trying to break down the genre too much. They have so much more than just metal...but I like to try and keep it simple.

Meshuggah - Have all albums: Destroy, Erase, Improve was my soundtrack to Freshman/Sophmore year of College. IT made for some awesome gym workouts!

Devin Townsend - Have all albums (I believe across all of his works...except for the Punky album or whatever the hell that one is): I go back and forth on Synchestra and Terria, but honestly just about everything he's done since Terria has been top notch for me. Ziltoid, DT Project albums (looking forward to the new one), The New Black was a great disc...I haven't spun it in awhile, so I'll probably do that on my commute home today. Devin gets a lot of play time on my ipod...let's just put it that way.

Threshold - Got into them when we played PP Europe a few years ago, but I really haven't made it through their catalog completely. Everything I hear seems to be pretty good, but I have to be in a certain mood to sit down with one of their albums. The newest album (can't remember the name right now - the one they put out right before PP Europe that year) is great fro mstart to finish.

Savatage: I'll be honest...I never looked back and checked these guys out. They get talked about so much but I'm not always a fan of going back to older albums. I tend to like going forward...but one of these days I need to go and take a listen as they do gt talked about so much that I'm starting to feel like I'm really missing something.

Dream Theater - Have all albums: Awake is by far my favorite. Voices is my favorite DT track of all time, but I have several favorites across albums. Metropolis II is an amazing album all the way through...but I still would prefer Awake any day of the week.

Zero Hour - Have all albums: I think they made the right choice with Salinas...and they're all amazingly nice guys! "Specs" is my favorite album, but my favorite song is "There for Me" on A Fragile Mind.

Vanden Plas - Have all albums: Much bigger fan of their newer material...old stuff's ok...I just prefer the production they started getting in their newer works. Beyond Daylight is my favorite album...don't really have a favorite song. I really like the new disc and that could probably become my new favorite with time.

OSI - Have all albums. Free is my favorite album. I don't really have a favorite song from OSI. They're more of a mood band for me. I put them on during a long car ride, stuff like that. I like the new disc, but thought they went a little too far away from the rock aspects on Blood. Don't get me wrong...I like the slower stuff too (I really do), but I felt like Moore focused a little too hard on the ambient side of the music on Blood.

Symphony X - Have all albums: V is one of the first albums I heard when I started getting into this style of music and it remains as probably one of my top 5 albums of all time. The Edge of Forever is my favorite song by SX, but V is easily the album. I like and dislike where they're going with their style. The albums up to Odyssey were such a great mix of heavy and ballad and they seemed to flow so easily. Odyssey and on I feel like the albums have become heavy with a couple of soft songs thrown in for good measure. In other words...the ballads have felt a little forced IMHO on the last couple discs. I'm kind of expecting the same on the new disc especially after reading what the band has been saying in regards to the recording. I still love them of course, it just isn't the same as it was when I first started getting into them.

Alright...I'll stop writing now.
 
Clay, I highly recommend Savatage, if you have the time and $$. I have everything, and they have different "era's" so you should be able to find something to like. Here is a rundown....

The Dungeons are Calling, Sirens and Power of the Night. The first 3 have a NWOBHM feel but with dark overtones for the most part. Raw, energetic, full of youthful exuberance. Lots of fun. Jon Oliva's voice (one of my favorites) is top notch. Dude could scream!

Fight for the Rock. An unfortunate album, to be honest. The label tried to get them to go commercial. Basically forced them to write radio friendly songs. They were able to throw in a couple metal tunes like The Edge of Midnight and Hyde but this is best left for last.

Hall of the Mountain King, Gutter Ballet and Streets: A Rock Opera. Hall of the Mountain King is a great metal album. Love the vocals, love the guitars, killer songs. Still remains one of my favorites, although the first time I heard it I hated it. Gutter Ballet was the beginning of the change to the next era. More mature songwriting, a bit more theatrical, but still with an edge. Ballads become more of an important part of their repetoire. Streets is a close second as far as my favorite Savatage albums. An interesting story coupled with thought provoking lyrics, and of course the double assault of Criss Oliva's awesome guitar work and Jon Oliva's killer vocals. I need to listen to this one again soon.

Edge of Thorns, Handful of Rain, Dead Winter Dead, The Wake of Magellan and Poets and Madmen. The current era. The introduction of Zac Stevens on vocals and after Edge of Thorns the loss of Criss Oliva. Still theatrical, still over the top. They never were a very technical band. I think they relied just plain good, memorable songs. Nothing in the way of crazy structures (that I can tell) or jaw-dropping musicianship. The Wake of Magellan is the best of this group, I think, with Dead Winter Dead being at the bottom.

There you have it, in a very small nutshell. Happy listening!
 
To add to voodoo's last post: Jon Oliva is still putting out albums under the nomen of Jon Oliva's Pain, and still performs a lot of Savatage songs in his live sets.

That said, here's my two cents on topic:

Opeth: Amazing band and Mikael's a funny fucker :p Had the pleasure of seeing them live several times and hoping to see them many times more. Definitely a great band, original music and great for many moods. My personal favorite album is Blackwater Park, but my favorite song is definitely Lotus Eaters.

Meshuggah: One band I would still love to see live sometime but never got the chance to. I have only two of their albums (Nothing and Destroy Erase Improve) and of those two DEI is definitely my favourite. Nothing but praise for the way they make music :)

Devin: Will be seeing Devin live for the first time on the 16th and then again on the 28th (together with Anneke van Giersbergen on that one :D ). Always admired the man. Ziltoid is my all-time favorite there, though the SYL album Alien is pretty damn awesome as well.

Threshold: I'm a massive fan of Damian Wilson as a vocalist and a person. I went to 4 of the 7 tourdates for the promotional tour of the Maiden United project just to hear him sing and be able to chat with him afterwards (and hear him perform some of his solo work unplugged :)). That said, I think the best Threshold albums, for me personally, were with Mac (Subsurface and Critical Mass). Definitely looking forward to hearing Damian on vocals again with them, though, on the upcoming album.

Savatage: An amazing band with an amazing discography. Great lyricism (is that a word? ). Anyways, voodoo said it all in the post above this one. Streets is definitely my favorite album, Chance my favorite song. Was awesome to hear Jon Oliva perform Chance live with JOP at Progpower Europe 2007 :)

I'll do the rest of the bands later on today :p I gotta get outta the building apparently :p
 
Dream Theater: Good band and as Gregg has said somewhere else: not afraid to experiment, regardless of what the fans expect. Metropolis II is my personal favorite, though Awake comes as a close second. Definitely a good live band too. I've seen them thrice now and will prolly go see them a few times more before I tire of them.

Zero Hour: I honestly didn't know these guys till they played Progpower Europe the same year Suspyre did, but luckily my fellow Progpowerians schooled me there and soon enough I was blown away by all that ZH has to offer. Live they were amazing and off-stage even more impressive. Troy and Jasun will always represent the stereotypical image I have of Californians thanks to bad movies and such (no offense to anyone!): blonde, long haired guys that say "dude" all the time :p

Vanden Plas: One of the bands on my list that I want to see live sometime, really bad. I have the Christ 0 and the Seraphic Clockwork, and of those two appreciate the latter most. Hoping to catch them in Holland sometime. Really a big fan of the kind of music they make.

OSI: can't say I know them very well. I've heard a song or two before, but that's about it. Don't think they're bad, but wasn't blown away at first listen either. I should prolly listen to them some more sometime, but honestly don't know where I would find the time :p

Symphony X: Amazing band. Going to see them live twice, on the 18th and 20th, and hoping for a killer set :) My favorite album by theirs is The Oddyssey, partially cos I'm a sucker for epically long songs and partially because that's the first album of theirs that I personally bough (and after that bought every other from the back catalogue that I could find :D ).

Pagan's Mind: Great band and Nils is an amazing singer and Steinar has the most awesome happy face on stage, imo. They're a good live band and I've seen them twice now (and got a signed drumskin from Stian to show for it too!) Probably will go see them play in May again. Definitely looking forward to it :)

Firewind: They've actually started to bore me a little. Their latest album especially. I can't tell you why, but I think after Allegiance it's all gone downhill.

Seventh Wonder: One of the few bands I would (and have) travel(ed) for. They are amazing. Saw them live for the first time at progpower europe, but heard of them long before then, because everyone kept recommending them as an awesome prog band. I traveled to Norway with a guy from the forum to see them in Sandefjord (near Oslo) and was supposed to go to the album release party on december 3rd, but my parents planned a family thing, so I couldn't go :(

Holy shit, they close these university buildings way too early :( Being kicked out of this one as well...sheesh! These three still upcoming from me:

Pathosray
Silent Force
Amon Amarth
 
Pagan's Mind - One of my favorite bands currently. I'll be honest...it took me a little while before I really got comfortable with Nil's voice, but I soon came to realize there's no one else like him. I was backstage during the Crimson Glory tribute set and he was across the room...I can't stress enough how much I was reduced to a fan boy. They really know their sound and what they do best. They (the whole band) truely seem to be a class act and deserve all the credit they get IMHO.

Firewind - Allegiance was ok...the rest just kind of bore me. I'm sorry...they just don't really tickle my feather like others do.

Seventh Wonder - I know that everyone seems to love them, but I'm just ok with them. I've heard all the discs, and feel like they have finally hit their stride with the most recent disc. What I mean by that is that the sound didn't fully mesh with me until the new disc came out. The older albums had great musicians playing together, but it sounded a little off to me. The vocalist really knows his voice, but I just feel like the vocals haven't been jiving until this most recent disc. I blame production for that though...and I'm sure live it would come across much better for me.

Pathosray - Great guys when we met them...solid musicians. Good discs.

Silent Force - Don't really know too much about them...heard one album and thought it was ok.

Amon Amarth - same as before...don't know too much about them. Heard one disc and thought it was ok.
 
Regarding Firewind, I kinda feel that each album is a semi-copy of the previous one. Gus G is a great guitarist but the songs are all quite similar. Also not a huge fan of the vocals. I just kinda threw the name outthere.

Regarding Seventh Wonder, I LOVE the vocals. Tommy is insanely talented. Musically these guys are not quite as heavy a band as I normally gravitate towards so I don't listen to them too often, but when I do it's time well spent.

Silent Force is one of my all time favorites. Infatuator is a great album. Such strong power metal. Not "flower" metal at all. Alex Beyrodt is a phenomenal guitar player, IMHO. And DC Cooper is among my top 5 favorite singers.

Amon Amarth I just threw out there because I am seeing them soon. I do listen to some extreme metal and they gradually numbering among my favorites. Didn't expect too many people on this board to feel the same, though. Just curious.
 
Opeth - I enjoy their older stuff, though unlike Clay, I don't have all their albums. I'll have to rummage through your collection, Clay! My fave so far is Blackwater Park.

Meshuggah - Gabe would probably hang me for saying this, but they don't really appeal to me, heh.

Devin Townsend - I like the DT Project stuff, particularly Addicted.

Threshold - Haven't had a chance to take their music for a spin, but we played the same festival and they are great performers.

Savatage - These goofs are amazing and hilarious. Almost got kidnapped by one of 'em.

Dream Theater - I love these guys. I had the pleasure of seeing them AND Iron Maiden at Madison Square Garden. I wish Rudess was my uncle. Train of Thought gets the most spins from me. But I also really like Kevin Moore, so Awake is also one of my faves (6:00) and Images and Words rocks.

Zero Hour - Nicest guys I've ever met. Really tight performances. Dark Deceiver is awesome.

Symphony X - Awesome awesome. Paradise Lost is my fave. Revelations gets the repeat button on my car stereo.

Amon Amarth - I absolutely love them. I follow a lot more folk metal bands than I do prog bands honestly. I've seen these guys several times, I even crowd surfed at one of their shows! And anyone that knows me knows that I don't do that. Ever. With Oden on our Side and Fate of Norns are my favorite albums.

I'm not sure if this is the right thread for this, but I'd check out these bands if you're into other genres: Old Man's Child, Mithotyn, Tyr, Ensiferum, Einherjer, Dissection, Nevermore, Korpiklaani and Dimmu Borgir (with Vortex and Mustis still in the band).
 
Hi, April! Thanks for dropping your 2 cents on this subject.

That little bit about almost getting kidnapped by Savatage gave me a chuckle. Is that a story that could be retold? Love to hear it.

Nice to see another Amon Amarth fan. I also dig their latest more than the early stuff. I have 2(?) Ensiferum CD's, one Tyr, 1 Korpiklaani, 1 Dissection, 2 Dummy Burger and all but 1 Nevermore. Some good stuff in that list. I'll have to check out the others in your list. I was fortunate to see Nevermore when they toured with Opeth back in 2005 (with Into Eternity). Not a big fan of Into Eternity but the rest of the show was THUNDEROUS. Truly a monster show. I'm really excited to see Amon Amarth in May because it's "an evening with...", no openers. All AA, baby!!!
 
I guess I'll chime in on this too...

Opeth: One of my favorites. I think "Ghost Reveries" and "Deliverance" are two perfect CDs, and "Still Life" is up on my list as well. "Blackwater Park" was the first Opeth I owned, but remember being bored with it last time I spun it. Maybe I'm overdue for an Opeth party.

Meshuggah: My opinions on which albums are my favorite change so frequently. "Destroy Erase Improve" is a perfect metal CD, but for some reason has amazing jazz/fusion-esque solos. At first I wasn't into their newer stuff, but the hypnotic sludgy riffs of "Nothing" and "Catch 33" really grew on me to the point when I'm listening to them more than their classic albums. Their guitar sound is unlike no other and Fredrik Thordendal is one of my biggest influences; the playing on "None" is what drew me to him.

Devin Townsend: I think I mentioned on a previous post that I never really got into Devin. I remember hearing "Infinity" stream online when that released when I was in high school and I enjoyed it for its creativity, but I never made the effort to check out the rest of his work, mostly because I wanted to hear something with more guitar. I remember not liking the guitar work very much. He's on my playlist for when I'm done with my current Beatles kick.

Threshold: Saw them at ProgPowerEuropeX and they were one of the tightest bands I've ever seen. I like when a band can impress me with their songs and not their shredding and showboating. My dad actually bought "Dead Reckoning" before I heard any Threshold ("hmm...my son is playing with some bands overseas, let's buy their records!"). He's one of the pickiest listeners, so I respect his opinion when he recommended I listen to them. Every song is so well-written, well-produced, and just so uplifting (they remind me of a heavier Journey). It's the only album I really heard, and if there are better ones, I can't wait to hear them.

Savatage: I heard the name because they have something to do with Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but I can't say I have heard them!

Dream Theater: My favorite, even though they have quite a few cheesy and embarrassing moments, but I let it slide because they are just that cool. "Awake" is one of my favorite CDs of all time. Say what you want about John Petrucci, but he's my favorite guitarist. When studying his chord shapes, I find it very interesting that we arrive at a lot of the same voicings; especially when I'm looking at stuff I wrote before I even heard of Dream Theater (junior year of high school, after my Iron Maiden kick was over). We both have very similar influences and taste in music, it seems.

Zero Hour: I think I'm the only Suspyre member that heard them before meeting them when we were on "tour" together in 2006. Years ago, I bought "The Towers of Avarice" after reading a review, and it didn't leave my CD player for months. I think I may like "Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond" the best now, mostly for Chris's great vocal performances and the mood of the album.

Vanden Plas: I've heard only a few clips, which I enjoyed, but never really listened to them.

OSI: See above.

Symphony X: I'm hit and miss with them. "V" is my favorite by far, and one of my favorite all-time albums in the genre; the rest honestly all run together to me. They are one of the most talented bands technique-wise and Russell Allen is one of my favorite vocalists in the genre (along with Daniel Gildenlöw), but their lack of diversity prevents them from being in my personal top band list.

...I know there are other bands on the list and I will get to them eventually!
 
I'm not sure if this is the right thread for this, but I'd check out these bands if you're into other genres: Old Man's Child, Mithotyn, Tyr, Ensiferum, Einherjer, Dissection, Nevermore, Korpiklaani and Dimmu Borgir (with Vortex and Mustis still in the band).

I saw Tyr at ProgPower last year and although I never really got into the whole Viking Metal thing before, that was one kick-ass show and I was in the front really getting into it! I plan on checking out this genre alot more. Just can't handle too much cookie-monster vocals.

My suggestions if you like theatrical or bands that mix lots of different genres (even Swing) is Diablo Swing Orchestra or Dakrya. Very quirky. Very fun.
 
Hah, actually yes. Once I read Gregg's post regarding Savatage and TSO being connected, I realized that I mixed them up with Sabaton. Sorry, it was a long day - 4 hours of practicing and too much Marx and Hegel (for grad school) in one sitting.

And while we're on this honesty track...heh, it's actually two for two - Gregg was nice enough to correct my last post because I wrote "Michael" instead of "Kevin" Moore. Doh! Dividing myself between my love for music and archaeology comes with a price!

Anyway. Sabaton. Clay, Andrew and I were chatting with Sabaton at an after party for ProgPower USA X in Atlanta. (They have their own stories to chuckle at, too.) Mind you, women are kind of a minority, so when I'm not on stage, festival goers and even performers usually think I'm just "hanging around" or that I "belong to someone." After finding out that I didn't "belong" to someone, one of Sabaton's guitarists decided it would be funny to not let go of my hand after a handshake. Just harmless shenanigans.

There was also another incident in Germany with a festival goer dressed up as a viking with the whole fur and huge drinking horn get up... but these travel stories are for another thread.
 
Please do create one, April, cos I personally have no experience with being either abducted or hardly any experience with being backstage hanging around with big bands (other than at PPEU :p ). Also, Marx and Hegel? phew...I'm more of a Bourdieu/Elias kinda guy when it comes to the social sciences, but that's qualitative sociology for ya :p

Anyways, to get back on topic, here's the few bands I still wanted to give my opinion on:

Pathosray: honestly can't say too much about them. Heard their first album before they performed at PPEU, and have spinned their second album a few times. Other than the track "Aurora" nothing really stuck with me. They're a good band, good live performance and solid on cd, but apart from that it wasn't too special for me.

Silent Force: can't say I've heard more than a few songs, so can't really say anything about the band either.

Amon Amarth: quality viking metal, definitely a band I'd like to see live sometime. It'll prolly happen at some festival, rather than me going to one of their gigs, cos I don't like them that much that I'd put down 30 euros just to see a headliner show by them. I do believe they're at the forefront of the Viking Metal genre though.

And as for a few of the other bands that have been mentioned that I know about:

Einherjer: definitely in line with the Viking Metal bit. I only know a few songs by them, and "Howl raven's come" is my favorite among those songs. Would like to see them live sometime, just to test out the drinking horn I bought recently :p

Ensiferum: saw them live at Fortarock in the Netherlands, and I've been a fan for a while. Victory Songs is my favorite album, just for the sheer melodicness of the whole. Me and my band actually covered Little Dreamer (and did a decent job, if I say so myself :p ). Very solid live band as well. I was definitely singing along to the songs I knew, and Iron is and will always be a solid song to close off a set :)

Korpiklaani: solid Folk metal band, but that's about it, imo. According to my friend they very much disappointed live, in the sense that they didn't really bring much more than their music to the stage. They didn't manage to convey the feeling of the music to the audience and were just doing their own thing on stage. The playing was meticulous, but that was about it.

Nevermore: solid band, will see them live on friday and sunday :) Will say more after that :D

Dimmu Borgir: Maelstrom Mephisto is my favorite live song of theirs, ever. Kings of the Carnival Creation? sure. Mourning Palace? Whatever. Maelstrom Mephisto is where it's at! The rendition of Maelstrom Mephisto on Alive in Torment is imo the best ever :)
 
Opeth - I've heard some of it and it's alright. Nothing that's made me need to clean my drawers, though.

Meshuggah - I think they're the best thing to happen to metal since Pantera. They created an entire sub-genre of metal (I think people are calling it "djent") and now there are hordes of bands that sound like they stole riffs right out of Thordendal's pocket. Same goes for the drumming style - there are millions of Haake impersonators now. Even if a person doesn't like Meshuggah, they at least deserve respect. April, I'm going to get my noose... :)

Devin Townsend - Devin is a genius, but my favorite stuff by him is with Strapping Young Lad.

Threshold - I don't think I've ever heard them.

Savatage - Same... don't think I've ever heard them.

Dream Theater - I was into them when I was in college. I don't really listen to them anymore, but I feel the same way about them as I do Meshuggah. They pushed prog rock into a new direction and spawned hordes of copycats. Anybody (or any group) that can do that is pretty amazing.

Zero Hour - Again... I've never really heard them. I got to hang with Chris Salinas and Fred Marshall, though, and they're both super cool guys.

Vanden Plas - We were supposed to play with them at ProgPower, but something happened to the work visas or something. We got Primal Fear instead, and I did need to clean out my drawers after that...

OSI - Never heard 'em...

Symphony X - I dig them because of Jason Rullo. We went to the same performance school, so I looked into them. Russell Allen is a monster vocalist!

It's times like this when I realize I don't really listen to a lot of prog music. I don't know why, I just don't.

I will tell you what's on the most recent playlist I made, though...

The Mars Volta
Strapping Young Lad
Meshuggah
Pantera
Soilwork
TesseracT
In Flames
A Perfect Circle
Trombone Shorty
Cynic
Tool
Rage Against the Machine
Robert Randolph and the Family Band
Bill Withers
FishHawk
Michael Jackson

I also listen to a lot of Earth, Wind & Fire and Tower of Power.
 
Strangely enough Gabe, I don't listen to a whole lot of prog metal either. At least not anymore. Lately I have been listening to a lot of Dio and other new, straight forward heavy metal. Bands like Icarus Witch and White Wizzard.
 
Strangely enough Gabe, I don't listen to a whole lot of prog metal either. At least not anymore. Lately I have been listening to a lot of Dio and other new, straight forward heavy metal. Bands like Icarus Witch and White Wizzard.

I don't listen to as much metal as I used to, either. It's not because I don't like it anymore; I'm just trying to expand.

Lately I've been more into:

Genesis (Selling England by the Pound, Trick of the Tail)
Jethro Tull (Thick as a Brick)
The Beatles (Abbey Road, Sgt. Pepper's)
Dave Matthews Band (Before These Crowded Streets)
Fiona Apple (first two albums)
Marilyn Manson (Antichrist Superstar, Mechanical Animals, and my guilty-pleasure is The Golden Age of Grotesque)
Michael Jackson (Off the Wall)
MVP
pretty much everything by Frank Gambale, Allan Holdsworth, Guthrie Govan, and John Coltrane
and of course, I'm constantly discovering new pieces by my favorite classical composers