Suspect

'Take me away/From this everyday life...' sings Joe Stoner, the powerful yet soulful vocalist of Suspect (www.suspectband.com), on the opening track of this Cleveland, Ohio quintet's recent demo. The demo is comprised of five songs, and from the first to the final note it's obvious that this band is doing something genuine, heartfelt, and real. The band is equally enthralling whether they are pounding away on the straight ahead, driving 'Got Cold', the impassioned, grief-stricken 'Down Below', or the melody rich, hook laden 'Everyday Life'. “Got Cold” and “Tear Me Out” feature the engineering and production of Darrel Herbert, former guitarist of the bands The Toadies and The Tomorrow People, the remaining three tracks were recorded and produced by the band in their rehearsal studio.

The group's sound is very accessible, but never sounds manufactured or insincere. 'Our music is, first and foremost, an extension of ourselves' states drummer Jon Hale, 'we write what we feel and hope the fans connect with that.' 'I write about real life issues,' says vocalist Joe Stoner, 'things that normal kids can relate to. Things I've gone through myself.' The earnest nature of their material, coupled with solid songwriting has begun to garner recognition for the band. King's of A&R describes the group as 'Aggressive/energetic alt-metal with a strong sense of commercial harmony.' The group has also received airplay on such radio stations Cleveland’s 100.7 WMMS and 92.3 WXTM, who described them as an 'industry buzz band.' The band is also in regular rotation on 88.1 WZIP, the University of Akron run FM radio station. 'WXTM's description of us is flattering,' remarks bassist Matt Bramley, 'but we don't ever want anyone to think we are focused only on 'the industry'. We write and perform because we love to do those things.' 'The industry can certainly help us do that on a much larger scale,' says guitarist Ron Brinker, 'but if we don't have the industry's support, we'll just do it without them.'

Suspect (www.suspectband.com) will certainly be a band to keep an eye on in the future.