ASPIRE: Bio
ASPIRE
ASPIRE was created in November 2004 by guitarist Al Candello and vocalist Ryan Metzger. Al has gained some reputation with instrumental album “Shades And Shadows” which has climbed to the high charts of then most popular download site MP3.com. While it was the first band project for Ryan, he had already established himself as a skilled theater actor and had extensive vocal training.
The idea was to combine pure Power Metal, with it’s heavy riffing and thunderous drumming with symphonic music. From the first days ASPIRE was a recording band, so, in just a few months, the band’s first official release, EP “All Ahead” saw the light.
Despite of (or, maybe, because of) it’s very unusual sound, “All Ahead” was very well received by the audience and fellow musicians. By combining thunderous drums and aggressive guitar sound of Power Metal with pure melody of symphony orchestra and classical opera tenor, ASPIRE creates it’s own world from the first chord you’ll hear. The title track from the EP was selected for Promo CD of the prestigious ProgPower USA VI Music Festival and the interest for the band grew.
The debut full-length album “Quest Eternal”, which also included all three songs from “All Ahead”, was released in July 2005. It immediately became a bestseller on CD Baby and many other European and American stores. More than twenty reviewers from all over the world praised the album, with one of them, a world-renown “Progressive Rock and Progressive Metal” webzine, calling it “A new reference in Progressive Metal”.
Many people have played with ASPIRE, with all of them contributing to the sound and live appearance of the band; however, it is always Al Candello and Ryan Metzger who define the band’s sound. The band played in all great clubs in New York, including BMT (formerly L’Amours) and Don Hill’s, drawing the steady audience of new and old fans.
As of this writing, ASPIRE is in the studio again, recording another full-length album which is scheduled for release in the early autumn of 2006.
Al Candello - Guitars
Oh, well… Long, long time ago, when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth… No, not THAT long!
Anyway, there once was a seventeen-years old boy, who had studied classical piano since he was seven, and now suddenly was begging his grandmother for… electric guitar! What happened? She already got somewhat used to his long hair, and now this! The answer was simple and genius: the boy has heard a song called “Strange Kind Of Woman”. That solo! I couldn’t eat and sleep, until I found out the name of the guitarist. Well, ever since, Mr. Ritchie Blackmore has become the number one for me. As time went by, I discovered more and more names in music, until someone brought me a beat-up cassette tape with Helloween’s “Keeper Of The Seven Keys”. That was another shock for me, and since then I knew the path I wanted to walk.
Several years, countries and guitars later, here in New York, I recorded an instrumental album “Shades And Shadows”. It was more of a test than serious effort, yet it was very warmly received by the audience. So, when the time had come to record a new release, I decided to do it professionally. I met Ryan through an online ad, we recorded “Quest Eternal”, came up with the name ASPIRE, put the band together, and the rest, as everybody says, will be better written by professional historians.
Ryan Metzger - Vocals
Hey all you metal heads! Ryan from Aspire here to tell you a little about myself. Man, where to begin…
I grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, on the Great Plains of the USA. I wasn’t the only member of my family born that day, though; my two triplet brothers were born first, and I came third. Growing up one of three was definitely a unique experience…
I went to university in Fargo after high school and graduated a few years later with a degree in Acting, which is what brought me to New York City. About a year after arriving, I met Al and after we recorded ‘Quest Eternal’, we formed Aspire. Between Aspire gigs and rehearsals, I can frequently be seen onstage here in the city acting in some show or another…
I love all forms of art: literature, music, performance, painting; poetry, everything. Clive Barker is definitely my favorite author; W.B. Yeats is definitely my favorite poet…although William Blake isn’t bad either. Other than The Arts, my only vice in this world is food…well, food and maybe sugar. I love food, especially Thai. Let me tell ya, I can’t wait to visit Bangkok some day…
People ask me sometimes how I got interested in metal and singing – I remember the moment exactly. I was 12 years old and was browsing through the ‘Used CD’ bin at a local disk shop and I came across Savatage’s ‘Hall of the Mountain King.” I bought the album ‘cause I thought the cover was cool…and their music literally changed my life. I never knew music like theirs existed. Two years later I discovered Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, and the rest, as they say, is history…