Menayeri had its beginnings in 1993 on Ponce , Puerto Rico when two friends, Enrique Ocasio (drums) and Edgardo Alvarez (guitar) decided that the time was right for changing musical directions. Inspired by the music of Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, Gentle Giant, and The Beatles ('67-'70) the long trail started. The first live set lists consisted of some originals plus covers of Yes, U.K, Marillion, Asia , etc…
In 1996 the covers were dropped for favoring original material plus the lyrics were changed from English to Spanish, the mother tongue of the band.
In 1997 the first demo, Menagerie, was done on a 4-track multi-track cassette. The 50 copies were quickly sold out.
In 1998 Edgardo Alvarez temporarily left the band to return the next year.
In 1999 it was decided to home-record all the material written so far giving birth to the ‘Tiempo Fugitivo' Sessions with Enrique Ocasio, Edgardo Alvarez, Rambert Bastell (bass), and Edwin Torres (vocals). In 2000 the CdR ‘Tiempo Fugitivo' was released obtaining positive reviews in progressive rock magazines/webzines such as ‘Progression Magazine', ‘Progressive-Newsletter.de', ‘Rockprogressivo.com.br', and the ‘Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock'. However, the issues with CdR releases plus the home-recording sound limited the band in gaining more exposure.
In 2001 Edgardo Alvarez's profession relocated him to the United States . The vacant guitar slot was taken by Eduardo López. Rehearsals quickly started and the new lineup (with Emi Touset on vocals) performed some live dates (including a full acoustic appearance at the prestigious Ponce Art Museum ).
During the second half of 2002, while the talks of making the first professional recording were taking place, the lineup was reduced to Ocasio, Bastell, and López. (Again) the band had to look for a new vocalist. In March of 2003 Sonia Ivelisse joined the band as the new vocalist. Rehearsals of new material started plus live dates performing the ‘Tiempo Fugutivo' pieces. During the summer, the recording sessions for ‘Futura Historia' started at La Roca Studio in Peñuelas, Puerto Rico . Eight pieces were done for the album. The new material in all aspects is a huge step forward from ‘Tiempo Fugitivo'. ‘Futura Historia': how we write/rewrite our path with thoughts and decisions.
During 2005 Sonia Ivelisse left the group.
2006...
