Partly recorded and mixed by Mark McNutt at Forge Recording.
With a history dating back sixteen years, echolyn continues to develop and redefine a compositional style best described as melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and dynamic – music that is progressive in the truest sense of the word. Defying categorization, while achieving critical acclaim from all around the globe echolyn continues to bend the ears of the world’s listeners.
The seeds of echolyn were sown in the late 1980’s when Brett Kull, Raymond Weston, and Paul Ramsey played in a cover band named ‘Narcissus.’ In 1988 Narcissus disbanded as the members tired of cover tunes. A year later Christopher Buzby joined Kull and Ramsey to form echolyn, a band that made a conscious decision to focus entirely on original music. Weston soon returned to the fold, and they began recording their eponymous CD “echolyn” in 1990. Kull, Weston, and Jesse Reyes manned the bass post until Thomas Hyatt joined permanently during the recording process of this first album. “echolyn” was released independently on Bridge Records, and the first pressing quickly sold out. The CD was for a while one of the most sought-after collector’s items in progressive rock, fetching over $100 at the Ebay internet auction site. echolyn was a welcome breath of fresh air in that generally lean time for progressive music.
In 1992, the band released “suffocating the bloom,” now generally regarded as an early ’90s progressive rock classic. The album honed echolyn’s trademark two-and three-part vocal harmonies with tight, contrapuntal instrumental musicianship, and features the 25- minute “A Suite for the Everyman.” Lyrically it deals with the loss of childhood innocence and idealism. In the spring of 1993 the band privately released the 4-song unplugged mini-CD “¡and every blossom.” However, it was “suffocating the bloom” that attracted the attention of executives at major label Sony Music/Epic Records, and the band contracted a multi-album deal in the summer of 1993, which included the release of their next full-length album on Sony/Epic/550 Music. During this period echolyn performed extensively and played sold-out shows throughout the Philadelphia area, most notably at South Street’s “Theater of the Living Arts.” They also opened three shows on the East Coast for progressive metal band Dream Theater. echolyn also performed a feature set at Progfest ’94 in Los Angeles prior to the release of their own Sony/Epic/550 Music debut.
