It was very chilly on a September morning on 1998, in Kent, Ohio. The band Suffusion was getting ready for their first gig to promote their second album "Karma" and were starting to arrive at the rehearsal space when Kevin, their drummer, started an arguement with Trey, the bassist.
"Dude! We are not playing that lame-ass Dream Theater song...what was it? Drag Me Down" or something like that?"
Trey reacts as if he was just kicked in the head.
"What? You're making fun of Dream Theater when you can't even keep a steady beat? And I thought we were considered prog?"
The two of them immediately spin around when they hear a knock at the rehearsal room door: It was probably Mike, their singer and guitarist. The door opened and Mike walked in with his amp being dragged along while his guitar case stradlled onto his back. He strained to carry what he called "The ole' ball and chain", which was actually a Marshall JCM800 amp. He said through clenched teeth to the bassist and drummer.
"Uhm...Could I get some help with this bad-boy?"
They walked over slowly, letting Mike struggle some more, then casually helped him get the large amp over to the rehearsal area. He put down his gig bag and unzippered it to reveal his new machine he had bought a few weeks prior: A B.C. Rich Bich, He said he wanted to buy one after seeing Megadeth's leadsinger/guitarist Dave Mustaine use one in his early days. The bassist had his Rogue 5-string bass out and was already noddling on scales and the drummer pulled out a few fills that made Trey smile approvingly. They waited in silence (minus the guitar fuzz) for Adam, the lead guitarist.
They got their answer...twenty minutes late. He arrived spouting apologies setting up his Ibanez RG and plugging in to the dual receptor on Mike's Marshall.
"Sorry, guys. I had trouble, y'know Nancy was on my back...the usual"
Mike sneered and replied, patting his amp.
"The ole' ball and chain?"
A moment of chuckling and then the band set up on deciding what to play, and after Mike got his singing voice into shape they set up into the shambling speed of "Hammer Smashed Face" the bass solo was a tad longer and improvised but Trey made up for it later with the chords in "Metropolis, Pt. 1" after the 13 minutes of two songs the band sat down preparing the setlist. Mike started off,
"Ok guys, so we got Hammer Smashed Face on the setlist and Metropolis...what else?"
Trey chimed in "Pull Me Under?"
Mike shook his head no, they already had a Dream Theater song, no need for another. Kevin and Adam said spontaneously and at the same time,
"Aces High"
Mike and Trey nodded and Mike wrote it down on a crumpled leaflet. He started the next segment,
"How about The Twilight is My Robe?"
Kevin nodded but Adam and Trey looked lost.
"By, who?" chimed Trey.
Mike looked distraught and looked almost angry,
"Opeth..."
Opeth and their frontman were Mike's favorite and biggest influence, and any chance to play one of their songs was a pretty good moment for him. Trey and Adam said in unison.
"Sure"
Adam then spurted out his suggestion,
"Infected Dead?"
The Slaughterhouse song was a pure mash of adrenaline at over 240 bpm and Kevin was struggling to learn it. Mike responded quickly,
"Uhh, maybe some other time, okay?"
Adam nodded and then forgot about it all and just went to their instruments. Mike plugged and played a warm C chord and smiled, while Kevin splattered double bass and tom fills into the fuzz while Adam worked on a solo and Trey fiddled with his B string. After ten minutes of tinkering and then tuning, they all smiled and prepared to practice their list of covers and then realized they had completely forgot about originals.
"How about the title track and Into the Dead of Winter?"
Mike signalled, the band all smiled and then continued to jam to these songs.
The intro solo was a work in progress for Adam, but he just smiled and jumped back into the song, while the latter song was a problem for Mike as he had to continously switch between growling and clean vocals. All in a last days work, eh?
/ my profile 
