You can get all of our updates at The Official Divergence Blog on Blogger.

Unfortunately, with all of the websites bands pretty much need to be on if they want to be successful these days, it's impossible for us to publish every post to every site. Luckily most places will allow you to sync your blog on their site with your main blog if you have an RSS feed, which Blogger provides for us. If, in the future, RSS syncing becomes available on iLike2Rock.net we will make sure all of our posts appear here as well. For now though you're going to have to get your Divergence news from The Official Divergence Blog.

Stay heavy, and thanks for following us!

Divergence's high-energy blend of hard rock and heavy metal sounds like old-school Metallica with Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden on vocals - like a young Ozzy, but with more attitude.  Their powerful sound maintains a high level of musicality and melody without sacrificing any of its balls.  Originating in Montgomery, New Jersey, the current line-up of Mike Lococo (Drums), Garrett Stryker (Rhythm Guitar), Shane Stryker (Lead Guitar), and Brian Speronello (Bass & Vocals) has been rocking out to constantly increasing crowds in venues across NJ and New York City.  The band has also independently released their debut album, titled Standing Over Shadows, which was unleashed on April 18th, 2009.

 The band’s history begins over seven years earlier.  Divergence got their name from the first band that Shane and Brian were in together during high school.  Although Garrett was never an official member back then, he helped out at every show loading and driving the equipment since he was the only one old enough to drive. When trying to decide on a name for this band, Brian, Shane, and Garrett shot down over 100 possibilities before Garrett mentioned that, whenever he imagined being a full time musician, he always dreamed that the band would be called “Divergence.”  That prompted them to revive the old name, and since Garrett occasionally jumped on stage to play with the original Divergence, the seeds for this band were actually planted all the way back in 2002.

 In March 2007, using a different name at the time, Brian, Shane, and Garrett wrote the oldest song that appears on Standing Over Shadows.  It happens to be the album’s title track. They recorded it, along with six other songs, under the band name “Eternal Horizon,” but that album never saw the light of day.  The problem was that the material was too inconsistent.  Most of it was poppy rock tunes, but it also had the earliest versions of “Standing Over Shadows,” “Eulogy” (titled “Goodbye” at the time) and “Rock Bottom Again.”

 It was during these sessions that the band first reached out to Alec Milewski to play drums for them.  While Alec never played with them live, he is technically the band’s first drummer.  He recorded the early versions of “Standing Over Shadows” and “Eulogy,” and then did all of the drums on the Standing Over Shadows album.

Divergence was at a stylistic crossroads, on one hand they had the softer songs, which were up-beat and catchy, and on the other hand they had the metal songs, which were fast and heavy.  But the decision to return to their roots playing metal was really no choice at all.  Everyone in the band grew up on metal – the only reason Brian & Shane ever started playing together in the first place was that Shane saw Brian cover “Seek & Destroy.”  Garrett has an un-opened copy of every single album Metallica has ever released, as a CD, on cassett tape, and in vinyl, sitting in a box in his room.  Playing it safe with the pop songs just couldn’t satisfy the band’s desire for speed, power, and intensity.

 With the choice made, the band returned to the studio in the Summer of 2008 ready to rock.  Armed with five heavy new songs, as well as the three songs left over from Eternal Horizon, the band went to work recording the new material and re-recording the three old songs. The result?  A blend of scorching guitar solos, chest-pounding double bass, ripping vocals, and blazing riffs called Standing Over Shadows.  The road to get there was long; the album came out one day before the seven-year anniversary of Brian and Shane’s first gig together in 2002.  However, the musical and personal growth that occurred over that time is ultimately what made the album possible, and it will help the band charge head on into the next phase of their career.

 After completing the recordings for Standing Over Shadows the band turned its attention to conquering live audiences.  The band booked their first gig with a company called “Jersey Shows,” who gave them a slot at an all-ages afternoon show on December 27th at the Court Tavern in New Brunswick, NJ.  Unfortunately the commitment was too much for Alec.  He was attending Berklee College of Music and it would be hard for him to make gigs in NJ since he was in Boston so much of the time.  One month before the show he quit the band, so the search for a drummer had to begin immediately if they were to keep from canceling the show.

Fortunately they didn’t have to look far for a replacement.  The moment after Alec’s conversation with Brian about quitting was over, Brian called Mike LoCoco.  He told Mike what happened, and since it was the night before Thanksgiving they agreed they would meet up the day after the holiday so Mike could hear to the recordings for Standing Over Shadows.

 Two days later, Mike came over, listened to the songs, and was impressed.  He agreed to do the show, and then depending on how it went he would decided whether or not he wanted to be a full-time member of Divergence. He too was attending college at the time, and wouldn’t be home much besides breaks.  That night, November 28th, 2008, Mike jammed with Divergence for the first time and learned “Devoiden,” the instrumental on Standing Over Shadows.

 The Court Tavern show went better than any of the band members could have hoped, and that cemented Mike’s place as the band’s permanent drummer.  Since then Divergence has played five more shows, four in New York City and another one in New Jersey.  The band’s first two shows in New York were at Fontana’s, the second was their album release show for Standing Over Shadows.  Divergence also opened for The Dirty Pearls at Crash Mansion the night they taped their performance for Fox’s TV show Fearless Music, and won a sponsorship from Sold Out Tour while playing their first Gotham Rocks Showcase.

 The band has numerous plans for the Fall, including more shows in the Tri-State area, and hopefully at least one show out of their home market to try and reach a new audience.  They have also have been working on new material, and have recorded drum tracks for two songs with acclaimed producer Rod Hui.

Roddy was one of Brian’s professors in college, and he was teaching a summer class where the students had 4 hours to set up, record a band, and break down.  When Brian got word that Rod was looking for bands for his class to record, he jumped on the opportunity to get into NYU’s professional-grade studio.  They booked a session, and everyone but Garrett went into the city on July 23rd, 2009 to record drums for “Bulletproof” and “Break The Mold.”  After that Divergence focused on preparing for their first Gotham Rocks Showcase, which was held on August 8th at Crash Mansion, and now that the show is in the books they are going to turn their attention back to recording. They hope to finish the other instruments for the new songs in time to release them before the New Year.