Symphony X

What's your favorite Symphony X album?

  • Symphony X

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Damnation Game

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • The Divine Wings Of Tragedy

    Votes: 7 25.9%

  • Twilight In Olympus

    Votes: 1 3.7%

  • V - The New Mythology Suite

    Votes: 11 40.7%

  • The Odyssey

    Votes: 4 14.8%

  • Paradise Lost

    Votes: 4 14.8%

  • Iconoclast

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Underworld

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    27
Yea I don't even remember that much. :/

Like the first Dream Theater album, I don't really consider it when thinking of the band's catalog.
 
I like the first Dream Theater album. The first Symphony X album is awful though. Was Russell Allen even the singer on it?
 
Nah, but even Russell couldn't save that album.

The first Dream Theater is definitely better, but it's still very similar to the first SX. Sounds nothing like the rest of their catalog, different singer, awful production. For me, the Dream Theater that I love started with Images & Words in the same way that SX started with The Damnation Game. WDADU is a nice little album but unremarkable. So it definitely has at least a little bit more going for it than the first SX. :p
 
Symphony X is happy to report that the mixing and mastering of our new cd is complete! The process was handled by Jens Bogren, who also did our last two cds, and who did an amazing job as always.

As for the artwork, we turned once again to Warren Flanagan. Warren has worked on our last two cds as well, and can also be relied upon for amazing work.

We will be wrapping up the booklet layout and finalizing things over the next couple of weeks. The band is really excited about this one, and we anxiously look forward to getting it out there to everyone.

-

I wish they got the guy who mixed Odyssey to mix this album... I like Bogren but I don't like his mix of last two albums, too heavy for Symphony X IMO.
 
Night Prowler said:
I wish they got the guy who mixed Odyssey to mix this album... I like Bogren but I don't like his mix of last two albums, too heavy for Symphony X IMO.
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Totally agreed. The mixing on PL wasn't too bad, but Iconoclast was worse (or maybe Pinella just wasn't doing anything interesting). The mastering, however, is upsetting: the brickwalled sound of the last two albums is just exhausting.
 
Agreed. I love the sound of that album. There's an incredible magic in the mix of light and dark, especially on the more epic tracks.
 
So while waiting for new Symphony X, I've been listening to a lot Star One lately... Russell sounds so much better than in last two Symphony X albums where he sounds too aggressive. Album is freaking awesome too and the vocal lineup is unreal (Allen, Dan Swanö, Floor Jansen and Damian Wilson).

(this one's about "Firefly")
(this one's about "Escape From New York)
(this one's about "Blade Runner")
 
Star One is awesome. Both albums are among my favorite modern metal albums.

For those who like Damian Wilson on this, I highly recommend his band Headspace. They've only got one album out but it's filled with great riffs and awesome vocals:
 
http://www.symphonyx.com/site/news/the-new-album-titled-underworld-will-be-out-in-july/

New Jersey’s progressive metal masters SYMPHONY X are set to release their brand new, ninth studio album called Underworld on July 24th via Nuclear Blast Records.

SYMPHONY X have triumphed, creating a panoramic “album rock” experience in an era cursed with diminishing attention spans. “This new one is about the song, really crafting each one on its own, to be as strong as it could be” says Michael Romeo, chief writer in the band, and proprietor of The Dungeon, the tricked-out studio in which the album was crafted, newly equipped with the latest in technology required to execute the band’s famous symphonic and orchestrated touches.

“Musically, Underworld has things reminiscent of the bands previous albums but this one definitely has its own individuality,” stated Michael. “Every element added was in service of the song, so the album flows and becomes a total listening experience from start to finish. Every song is to-the-point and fine-tuned, with us paying a lot of attention to the hooks, voices, riffs, and keeping the interest and the energy high for the entire record. It is heavy and aggressive as fuck when it needs to be, yet soaring and emotional at other times. I think the balance is just right. It had to have all the elements of what we normally would do, just tweaked up a notch and really fine-tuned. You know, industry people have talked about how we’ll never see a complete album again, and that idea. I wanted to defend the reputation of the album, and really try to make Underworld worth listening to as a whole record. It’s what I love about great individual songs, but still an album experience. I don’t want to sound like I’m preaching, but it was a point we wanted to make. It was about the progression of the whole record. It speeds up here and then it dips down here. It all makes sense together, it all works together and it all flows together.”

Although Underworld is not a concept album, Michael stated “like the last couple of records, there’s a theme that carries through, without it being storytelling. We try to find something to key in on and get the juices flowing, and here the goal was to find something a little dark but with emotional content. I started looking at Dante, and Orpheus in the underworld, where he’s going to go to Hades or hell to save this girl. So there’s the theme of going to hell and back for something or someone you care about.” Heavily inspired by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, Underworld draws on the themes from Divine Comedy most notably the part on Inferno. As homage to Dante’s use of the number 3 and its multiples, the band utilizes this motif in its music either in a lyrical or melodic context. The first song on the album is a three syllable, three note melodic phrase, and in the verses there are three references to three songs on the bands third album, The Divine Wings Of Tragedy. “There’s cool shit like this all over the record,” Romeo reports.

For Underworld’s cover art, SYMPHONY X went with their established illustrator Warren Flanagan (Watchmen, The Incredible Hulk, 2012), who similarly tapped into the “secret knowledge” vibe Michael and band embedded in the record. “Warren went with the masks, similar to the first record,” explains Romeo. “But when I discussed with him Dante and the underworld, he did his own research and designed a little symbol for each of the nine circles of hell. So there are these little geometric symbols that mean something. That’s just what he does. He gets in there and finds these things that maybe no one really besides us knows what it means and yet it has meaning.”

Below is the track List for Underworld:

01. Overture
02. Nevermore
03. Underworld
04. Without You
05. Kiss Of Fire
06. Charon
07. Hell And Back
08. In My Darkest Hour
09. Run With The Devil
10. Swansong
11. Legend
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Another song called Hell and Back? That song title is becoming the new Coming Home. :p
 
I don't know if their song titles have ever been that good. King of Terrors, Sea of Lies, Set the World On Fire... pretty shitty titles IMO.

I'm excited though. If it's as balanced as they say it is I'll be happy. I love thematic continuity stuff too so that'll be fun.
 
Song titles are really shitty, one word song titles make me think we're in for a sound more similar to Iconoclast, and that way lies sadness. Every track has a generic song title made famous by other bands already:

07. Sabaton
08. Megadeth
09. Van Halen
10. Led Zeppelin

The cover is also terrible. Like Symphony X's version of Dance of Death.

But everything about the songwriting sounds really cool. I'm very excited, despite the overwhelming genericness of it all.
 
New SONG!


First impressions: real singing! It sounds a lot like Iconoclast/Paradise Lost, but with more heart. That bluesy stomp jam that happens towards the end is really nice. Call me crazy, but the melodies and vocals remind me a little bit of Dream Theater.
 
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