SYMPHONY X SURVIVOR 2015: Results -> The Odyssey wins!

[Mosh]

I still like Domination a lot but Eve just narrowly beats it out.

I very much agree. Russell's voice perfectly suits the material, but the material has clearly taken a more aggressive approach. I honestly think the main difference is in the mix: if this were mixed liked V people wouldn't have any issues with it, but because the guitars are so upfront and the overall production favors the bite and heaviness, it feels different.

Totally thought the same thing, except I was thinking more TIO production, or even Odyssey production.

I like the production for the most part, but I do think the guitars should've been a bit lower in the mix. That said, the guitars were always in the forefront.

 

[Mosh]

Stop voting for Odyssey songs. All 4 are top ten worthy!

 

[Lampwick 43]

Candlelight
Fallen
Serpent's Kiss
Eve
Babylon

 

[Detective Beauregard]

Sins
Evolution
Fallen
Inferno
STWOF
Serpent's
Paradise
Eve

This band's "epic" songs almost always edge out the shorter, more metal tunes for me. There's a few exceptions - one being that the band hasn't written an exceptional ballad since Accolade II. Swan Song has come the closest, but the other four from their last three albums are just too straightforward for me to get into. I miss the dynamic time changes and sweeping orchestras of songs like Communion and the Oracle.

The other exception is that since The Odyssey, the band has gotten MUCH better at writing "metal" songs. Inferno, King of Terrors, Domination, Walls of Babylon, Iconoclast, Heretic, Prometheus, Reign in Madness, Underworld, Kiss of Fire, and Charon are all far more interesting and engaging than similar material from their first five albums (if you can get past the lyrics, which are often third-grade level). People hold songs like Sins and Shadows, Evolution, and Smoke and Mirrors in such high regard, but I just don't hear what makes them so special. The band clearly excelled at the more progressive epics in their earlier days.

I like the production for the most part, but I do think the guitars should've been a bit lower in the mix. That said, the guitars were always in the forefront.

Aside from the album being mixed far too loudly, I agree. That said, I think the balance between the instruments is great, minus the guitar needing to come down a notch. The keyboards aren't necessarily too low; they're just rarely doing something interesting or that stands out. And that bass... wow. Best bass tone LePond has ever had with Symphony X, and he's at the perfect level in the mix. V and The Odyssey suffered from too much bass compression (thus making it buried), while Iconoclast had him buried in other ways (maybe due to all the mechanical sounds?)

Stop voting for Odyssey songs. All 4 are top ten worthy!

All but Inferno certainly are!

 

[Night Prowler]

The other exception is that since The Odyssey, the band has gotten MUCH better at writing "metal" songs. Inferno, King of Terrors, Domination, Walls of Babylon, Iconoclast, Heretic, Prometheus, Reign in Madness, Underworld, Kiss of Fire, and Charon are all far more interesting and engaging than similar material from their first five albums

Iryo... but dude...

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Stop voting for Odyssey songs. All 4 are top ten worthy!

Agreed, but I'm just getting antsy and want to get those first 3 albums down to 3 songs each. These votes for Awakenings are insanity.

Maybe I just don't remember, but who is this @franksamuel0209 and why has he suddenly appeared to vote against all of my favorite songs?! Justify your votes, man!

The other exception is that since The Odyssey, the band has gotten MUCH better at writing "metal" songs. Inferno, King of Terrors, Domination, Walls of Babylon, Iconoclast, Heretic, Prometheus, Reign in Madness, Underworld, Kiss of Fire, and Charon are all far more interesting and engaging than similar material from their first five albums (if you can get past the lyrics, which are often third-grade level). People hold songs like Sins and Shadows, Evolution, and Smoke and Mirrors in such high regard, but I just don't hear what makes them so special. The band clearly excelled at the more progressive epics in their earlier days.

While I agree with this in theory, I cannot deny that Sins, Evolution, Smoke & Mirrors and many other early "metal" songs are incredible.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

You guys are seriously voting out Serpent's and Eve of Seduction before the title track?! BAH!

 

[Night Prowler]

Eliminated:
The Serpent's Kiss - 5 votes
Set The World On Fire - 4 votes
Eve Of Seduction - 4 votes

Promoted:
Paradise Lost
The Walls Of Babylon
Revelation (Divus Pennae Ex Tragoedia)

Iconoclast joins the game.

Iconoclast is available as a single disc as well as a special edition digipak with five extra tracks. Guitarist Michael Romeo has stated that the special edition contains the track order that the band originally intended to release, but their label (Nuclear Blast) wanted a single-disc version as well. According to Romeo, the track "Reign In Madness" is the proper closing to the album.

 

[Detective Beauregard]

Sins
Evolution
Fallen
Inferno
End of Innocence
Bastards
Children
When All is Lost
Electric
Light up the Night
Lords

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

I have to go listen to this one more time with dedication - it's a little too much/too intense to get through usually. But it's safe to say that I will not be voting for anything pre-Iconoclast.

 

[Mosh]

Wow, the right songs got promoted for once.

 

[Night Prowler]

Wings, Communion, Awakenings.

First CD of Iconoclast is a pile of garbage. Complex soaring choruses they were known for are replaced by tuffguy shouted repetitive crap or cringey stuff like "We are strong, we will stand and fight" repeated over and over again. Also keyboards are nowhere to be found. Only good song there is When All Is Lost because it sounds like Symphony X of old, but still much weaker than it used to be. Voting for all other songs from CD 1.
Second CD is slightly better. Electric Messiah is awesome. The other songs are not as offensively bad as stuff from CD 1 but they aren't good either. Voting for all songs from CD 1 except Electric Messiah and The Lords Of Chaos (because of the limit, I don't find it good).

 

[Mosh]

Haven't listened to this in a long time. I've also never heard the two CD version (although I've heard each song separately), listening to that now.

The title track is still awesome, was intense live.

It does get pretty same-y though. I liked the whole mechanical theme but it gets old a bit too fast, I prefer when SX does more classical themes like Orpheus in the Underworld and Paradise Lost. It also opens up the possibilities for more variety in the music, which would've made Iconoclast a much more enjoyable album to sit through. Take out songs like Bastards of the Machine and write a couple more When All Is Losts. Especially with a double album, it gets seriously exhausting when everything is the same tone. That said, I wouldn't call it a bad album, cause for what it does it does it well, I just wish there was more than one style present. Paradise Lost on the other hand has like 3 or 4 styles and moods.

 

[Mosh]

...And yea it's pretty exhaustive. Single disc version is way better, although both versions would've benefitted from a tweaked tracklist.

 

[Night Prowler]

I have some new found appreciation for Paradise Lost after listening to Iconoclast

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

First CD of Iconoclast is a pile of garbage. Complex soaring choruses they were known for are replaced by tuffguy shouted repetitive crap or cringey stuff like "We are strong, we will stand and fight" repeated over and over again. Also keyboards are nowhere to be found. Only good song there is When All Is Lost because it sounds like Symphony X of old, but still much weaker than it used to be. Voting for all other songs from CD 1.
Second CD is slightly better. Electric Messiah is awesome. The other songs are not as offensively bad as stuff from CD 1 but they aren't good either. Voting for all songs from CD 1 except Electric Messiah and The Lords Of Chaos (because of the limit, I don't find it good).

The Lords of Chaos and Light Up the Night is a one-two punch of the worst Symphony X songs in history. They should be voted for before all else. I actually remember quite liking Dehumanized, End of Innocence, Heretic, and Children, but we'll see what happens on my relisten.

It does get pretty same-y though. I liked the whole mechanical theme but it gets old a bit too fast, I prefer when SX does more classical themes like Orpheus in the Underworld and Paradise Lost. It also opens up the possibilities for more variety in the music, which would've made Iconoclast a much more enjoyable album to sit through. Take out songs like Bastards of the Machine and write a couple more When All Is Losts. Especially with a double album, it gets seriously exhausting when everything is the same tone. That said, I wouldn't call it a bad album, cause for what it does it does it well, I just wish there was more than one style present. Paradise Lost on the other hand has like 3 or 4 styles and moods.

Right on the money. It's not a bad album, it's just a one-note album. It may be a mediocre Symphony X album, but that still makes it better than most other metal albums.

...And yea it's pretty exhaustive. Single disc version is way better, although both versions would've benefitted from a tweaked tracklist.

From memory, it would be a much stronger single disc album by cutting Bastards, Lords of Chaos, and Light Up the Night.

I have some new found appreciation for Paradise Lost after listening to Iconoclast

Hopefully you find some new appreciation for Underworld after listening to Iconoclast, too.

 

[Mosh]

From memory, it would be a much stronger single disc album by cutting Bastards, Lords of Chaos, and Light Up the Night.

I was thinking something like this:

1: Iconoclast
2: End of Innocence
3: Prometheus
4: Light Up the Night
5: Electric Messiah
6: Children of a Faceless God
7: Lords of Chaos
8: When All Is Lost

Although it'd be useful having another ballad somewhere in the middle.

I have to give them credit for one thing: Despite being a departure, their last three albums sound nothing alike. I look forward to revisiting Underworld, I enjoyed it a lot when it came out but for reason I never got the urge to revisit it much.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

I would go with something like:

1. End of Innocence
2. Dehumanized
3. Heretic
4. Reign in Madness
5. Children of a Faceless God
6. Electric Messiah
7. When All Is Lost
8. Prometheus (I Am Alive)
9. Iconoclast

I have to give them credit for one thing: Despite being a departure, their last three albums sound nothing alike. I look forward to revisiting Underworld, I enjoyed it a lot when it came out but for reason I never got the urge to revisit it much.

I wouldn't say they sound nothing alike, I hear a lot of similarities in the riffing and songwriting. Lyrically, Paradise Lost and Underworld share similar themes, though different ideas. But, I would say they are more unique than the earlier records, even if I like them less. You could mix and match songs from Damnation Game, DWOT, and TiO and they'd all fit together.

 

[Mosh]

Oops, nothing alike was a poor choice of words. But yea that's exactly what I mean, the run from Damnation Game to TiO is all interchangeable. On the other hand I don't think you could put a song like Serpent's Kiss on Iconoclast, or Hell and Back on Paradise Lost.

 

[Night Prowler]

the run from Damnation Game to TiO is all interchangeable. On the other hand I don't think you could put a song like Serpent's Kiss on Iconoclast, or Hell and Back on Paradise Lost.

Completely opposite IMO.