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By RYAN MAVITY
Suspyre is the type of band musicians love. They are technically gifted players who use orchestras, synthesizers and write nine-minute epics about galactic movements. Some of the singing, drumming and guitar work on A Great Divide can keep a Guitar Center rat busy for weeks. But musician bands also sometimes try a little too hard to impress us with their virtuosity. I’d rather have someone write a really good three-minute song than try to cram a zillion guitar solos into eight minutes when its not completely necessary. It’s why bands like Rush and Dream Theater, as good as they are musically, have never really worked for me.
All you really need to know about Suspyre you can find out in the album’s second track, “The Singer.” The band crams everything under the sun into this nine-minute song: violin solos, keyboard solos, operatic vocals and some thrash metal. It is a ridiculously over-the-top production and the song works, though more for its bombast than anything else. But as early as “The Spirit,” the next track, with its saxophone solo and soaring female vocals, it begins to become a little much. The album starts to morph from something fairly cool to something cheesy. All that’s missing is Rick Wakeman to come along and stage the album on ice.
I guess my main issue with the album is that it becomes more about the band’s ability to play than it is about the songs. I don’t mind excess in music (keep in mind I am the guy who has given glowing reviews to Viking metal albums). But the excess on A Great Divide isn’t in service of the songs; it’s in service to the band’s individual talents. The folks from Suspyre can play very, very well, but do we really need a 10-minute instrumental about the movement of the galaxies? I know, I know, it’s prog rock and these sort of things are the norm. But still, there’s got to be more involving material for me to invest in.
So is there anything good here? Sure there is. Some of the thrashier parts rival the best thrash bands for speed. The production serves the band well and the guitar work is topnotch. Sometimes the orchestra stuff works and lends the album a grand feel. But the album goes on and on without really going anywhere. Strip away a lot of the pomp and circumstance and you have Rush without the squeaky voice. If that’s your thing, well, you’ll probably dig Suspyre. If it’s not, you probably will feel the same way I did.
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