An apparatus for generating a synthesis audio signal using a patching control signal comprises a first converter, a spectral domain patch generator, a high frequency reconstruction manipulator and a combiner. The first converter is configured for converting a time portion of an audio signal into a spectral representation. The spectral domain patch generator is configured for performing a plurality of different spectral domain patching algorithms, wherein each patching algorithm generates a modified spectral representation comprising spectral components in an upper frequency band derived from corresponding spectral components in a core frequency band of the audio signal. The spectral domain patch generator is furthermore configured to select a first spectral domain patching algorithm from the plurality of patching algorithms for a first time portion and a second spectral domain patching algorithm from the plurality of patching algorithm for a second different time portion in accordance with the patching control signal to obtain the modified spectral representation. The high frequency reconstruction manipulator is configured for manipulating the modified spectral representation or a signal derived from the modified spectral representation in accordance with a spectral band replication parameter to obtain a bandwidth extended signal. Finally, the combiner is configured for combining the audio signal having spectral components in the core frequency band or a signal derived from the audio signal with the bandwidth extended signal to obtain the synthesis audio signal.