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 25.0%

  • Twilight In Olympus

    Votes: 1 3.6%

  • V - The New Mythology Suite

    Votes: 11 39.3%

  • The Odyssey

    Votes: 5 17.9%

  • Paradise Lost

    Votes: 4 14.3%

  • Iconoclast

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Underworld

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    28
Smoke and Mirrors
Music: Romeo, Miller
Lyrics: Romeo, Allen, Miller

Notes:
- According to setlist.fm, this is the band's 6th most played live song (but has not been played since 2013).
- The instrumental interlude after the second chorus cites Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B Minor (Kyrie eleison) (1749)

LYRICS:
It's all perpetual dreams, this hidden life ain't what it seems
Walking dead we are
Victims of misfortune, lies, and tortured bringers of demise
Circling above like vultures
They reap the harvest that we sew and take, like trusting fools
Promising charade
All the days now disappear from weeks to months
From months to years
Forever bound, shackled to the wall

PRE-CHORUS
The night falls, I've seen a thousand moons rising in the sky
The night calls, I feel the midnight, it slowly cloaks my eyes
Touched by the kiss of the sunrise

CHORUS
Live with shadows and fears, behind smoke and mirrors
Try to turn back the years, living inside smoke and mirrors

Sacred and serpentine, a hypnotizing twisted theme
Weaves our souls to soar
Like candles in the wind, our echoed cries above the din
Fade into this faceless sculpture
In the wheel of chance and fate, spinning as we watch and wait
A mystery to us all
On the edge of sanity, we tread the seas of destiny
Forever bound, silent voices call

PRE-CHORUS
CHORUS

[Keyboard Solo]
[Guitar Solo]
[Keyboard Solo]
[Guitar Solo]

CHORUS
  • We begin with a furious burst of energetic neoclassic shredding and syncopated rhythm section hits, culminating in the main riff of the song. It's an absolute banger of an intro and the band sounds tighter than ever. I love Walling's drum rolls into each hit during the first part of the main riff, it honestly sounds like something Rullo would do. Pinnella's harpsichord underpinning is fantastic, too.
  • The little half-time section right before the first verse is unexpected and awesome, giving us just enough of a breather before Russell jumps onboard.
  • I love the vocals in this song. Russell finally comes into his own here, I think. Sure, he is amazing on the entire DWOT album, but he starts to sound like himself with this record. His tone is firmly planted. It's still full of Dio-isms, but he's owning it more than ever before. Also, the verse just rips. The phrasing is perfection and the performance is wonderful.
  • We hit another half-time section in the pre-chorus, with a twisty guitar riff weaving around Russell's more elusive, creepy vocals. He also gets to do a nice, bluesy, "ooh-oh-oh!" which adds a lot of personality.
  • The chorus is a power metal barnburner and perfectly set in Russell's high range. It's uplifting and fantastic. Pinnella takes a bit of a backseat in the pre-chorus and chorus, no doubt adding some backing vocals.
  • The main riff (with some slightly more pointed harpsichord) leads us back to another ripping verse. The furious guitar, bass and drum fills that come in after the first and third lines of the verses are so expertly placed and impressive.
  • The turnaround into the post-second chorus section is great and very foreboding. Romeo perfectly layers in a Bach piece, further hammering home the point that even this song could be a lie, more "smoke and mirrors". Anyway, it's a great section and leads us nicely into...
  • Casio keyboard solos! In all seriousness, though, this elongated keyboard and guitar duel is pretty cool. The stutter notes at the very end of Pinnella's first solo are awesome, Romeo's entire first solo is a masterclass in melodic, neoclassical shred, Pinnella's second solo is much more melodic and almost a bit 70's sounding, and Romeo's final solo is just pure Yngwie-inspired madness.
  • I love the keyboard/guitar unison...that becomes a full band unison! Kudos to Miller for showing up and tapping us back to another rousing final chorus.
  • Russell's final "mirr-ahhhh-ah-ah-ah-ahhhh-ors!" is fucking great.
  • And then the song comes to big, dramatic-ass close.
Honestly, the more I listen to this tune the more I prefer it to Of Sins and Shadows. They are cut from the same cloth (the exact same cloth), but this one is far more successful in the vocal melody department. A killer song and one I hope they bring back at live shows, because Sins and Shadows gets pretty old. 10/10
 
Today is a special day: Michael Romeo's birthday. As my present to him, I will wrap up a review on The Divine Wings of Tragedy that he will absolutely never read.

Romeo himself has described this album as the one where it "clicked" because the band had found "their sound." Granted, the style of this album is pretty similar to the previous two, but the songwriting here is far stronger. There may be a few duds, but two-thirds of this album is amazing. It's probably tied with two others as my overall favorite, but with this band it's so damn hard to choose.
  • Of Sins and Shadows - Excellent opener, metal-style. No fancy intro, just riffs and pure aggression. Overplayed live, though. 9.5/10
    • MVP: Symphony X
  • Sea of Lies - A bit of everything in this tune. I think it's a bit overplayed, but it's still a classic. 9/10
    • MVP: Miller for the noodling, Romeo for the... noodling
  • Out of the Ashes - Punchy lil' neoclassical tune about growing up or something. One of the better of this style. 8.5/10
    • MVP: Romeo
  • The Accolade - The imagery of a medieval knight riding into battle is perfectly captured here. I like the sequel better, though. 10/10
    • MVP: Russell, Pinnella
  • Pharaoh - The band will go on to tackle Eastern-sounding stuff a lot better in the future. Cheesy and fun chorus. 6.5/10
    • MVP: Miller for that bad ass tapping
  • The Eyes of Medusa - Probably the band's most aggressive track to date. The interlude could have been better, but still. 8/10
    • MVP: Rullo for the polymeters, Pinnella for the sweet tinklies
  • The Witching Hour - Like Pharaoh, this is filler. Same style as Out of the Ashes, but much worse. Cool music, though. 6/10
    • MVP: Romeo
  • The Divine Wings of Tragedy - Probably my favorite song ever. It's an incredible eargasm. 10/10
    • MVPs:
      • I: At the Four Corners of the Earth: Russell (duh)
      • II: In the Room of Thrones: Romeo
      • III: A Gathering of Angels: Miller, Russell
      • IV: The Wrath Divine: Pinnella, for the atmosphere
      • V: The Prophet's Cry: Russell
      • VI: Bringer of the Apocalypse: Rullo, for playing those time signatures
      • VII: Paradise Regained: Russell
  • Candlelight Fantasia - In my opinion, Symphony X's best "traditional" "ballad." Beautiful. 10/10
    • MVP: Symphony X
Overall Rating: 86%

Man, those two fillers really drag the numbers down.

Aside from being Romeo's birthday, today is also the 19th anniversary of @MrKnickerbocker and I seeing Symphony X live for the first time evar! They played this little dive bar in Aurora, Illinois, but they lit the place up. This was their freaking set list:
  1. Inferno (Unleash the Fire)
  2. Wicked
  3. King of Terrors
  4. Church of the Machine
  5. Communion and the Oracle
  6. The Accolade...
  7. Accolade II
  8. Out of the Ashes
  9. Evolution (The Grand Design)
  10. Egypt / The Death of Balance
  11. Smoke and Mirrors
  12. Guitar & Keyboard Solos
  13. Sea of Lies
  14. Awakenings
  15. Of Sins and Shadows
I mean, outside of a massive epic, you can't beat that. Russell brought a cake on stage for Romeo, but he was too busy taking swigs of Jack to care. This was the band just having fun, and it was glorious.

MrKnickerbocker said:
Kudos to Miller for showing up and tapping us back to another rousing final chorus.
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The unison? Not tapped. Plucked. I know, right?

Diesel 11 said:
Okay, listen. "Smoke and Mirrors" is cool but it's nowhere near the epicness of OSaS.
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I'd say they're pretty close. Smoke and Mirrors is a more multifaceted song.

Diesel 11 said:
Besides, we all know that the best Symphony X opener is "Inferno".
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As an opener, I think it sits tied at the top with Of Sins and Shadows and Evolution. All are infinitely better than Set the World on Fire and Nevermore, though. I do quite like Iconoclast, however.
 
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Detective Beauregard said:
All are infinitely better than Set the World on Fire and Nevermore, though.
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No no no, “Set the World on Fire” is awesome and better than “Smoke and Mirrors”. It rules. And “Nevermore” was about the only song that stood out to me from Underworld, but again, I’ve only heard it once.
 
"Smoke And Mirrors":

Oh, the Yngwie is strong with this track as a flurry of neoclassical runs starts things off, then breaks into a driving, equally Yngwiesque riff. This changes up into a punchier riff with harpsichord support, then rolls into an OK verse and a decent off-rhythm pre-chorus that builds into an OK chorus.

Another run of verse through chorus breaks into a more atmospheric guitar and organ interlude, which is a nice contrast. This cuts into a very good synth and guitar tradeoff solo section, building back to the chorus with some extra flourishes before a brief but effective outro.

The music itself is pretty great here, if a bit derivative of its obvious inspiration. I'm not as impressed by the songwriting and the melodic choices for the vocals, though, and as a result I think the song is merely good overall. 7/10.
 
The intro to "Smoke and Mirrors" is very neoclassical, which underscores the band wanting to take things up a notch. It's not my favorite, but it works alright. I'm also not the biggest fan of the admittedly scorching riff we're ushered into next, but once Russell comes in the song final kicks up a thousand notches. Russell is the goddamn BEST. He guides us through with such vigor, sometimes a little more bite here and there, sometimes more smoothly. The verses are torching, the pre-chorus is complicated yet well-oiled (and pumping!), and the chorus is just fun. I love his drawn out lines in the second and third incarnations too. "Inside smokes and miiiiiiirroooooooors...." Mmmm. Lovely bridge as well.

The guitar / synth duel is pretty awesome! Michael and Michael bring some of their best work to this song. Romeo's first solo in particular is awesome. It starts out with some grit and then goes nuts, but never feels like it's overly noodly. He's showing off, but he's got the talent to back it up. Pinnella's solos are a lot prettier in contrast, but they work great.

"OH THE NIGHT CALLS!" Thank you, Dio. Glad to see that part of Russell still hasn't left, lol.

It's a good opening to the album! No, it's not "Of Sins and Shadows". Or "Evolution (The Grand Design)". Or "Inferno (Unleash the Fire)". Or even "Set the World on Fire (The Lie of Lies)". (Geez, what's with the openers following this one and their subtitles??) But it's still a great song in its own right. Russell is awesome; M&M are too.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
The new Michael Romeo album is honestly pretty fantastic. There are some songs that I enjoy far more than some of the more recent SX material. The cinematic elements work really well.
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It's a fantastic album, and most of it is on par (or in some cases stronger) than the post-Odyssey Symphony X material. There is truly no weak song on this album, including the bonus tracks.

Favorites:
Divide & Conquer (that chorus...)
Metamorphosis (this is turning into my favorite)
Hybrids (might be the most interesting musically)
Parasite (such a sweet dirty tune)

Still growing:
Destroyer (very reminiscent of Sea of Lies and Domination in tone and the choruses)
Just Before the Dawn (piano here is beautiful)
Maschinenmensch (obviously the centerpiece but I'm not feeling it at 100% yet)

The instrumentals are fantastic, and kind of what Symphony X has been missing since the Odyssey days. In some recent interviews, Romeo alluded to how writing for "the band" (Symphony X) was different post-Odyssey since he strived to write material that could be performed live as it sounded on the album. I actually think that's a big reason why the last three Symphony X albums lacked the magic of their earlier releases. I'm a big believer in throwing as many layers onto a studio album as you want to make it sound the way you desire. I've always found a stripped-down sound to be boring.

Fun fact: Romeo used a 7-string on Destroyer and one other song (I think Hybrids).

MrKnickerbocker said:
Absolutely great vocals by Dino, even if he does sound like a Russell clone.
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Haha, you make it sound like that's a bad thing. Dino is fantastic; the guy on the first album really got on my nerves due to his lack of depth.
 
Twilight in Olympus, the band's fourth album, is a worthy successor to The Divine Wings of Tragedy that Zeus himself (who makes an appearance on the cover) would be proud of. @MrKnickerbocker already pointed out a few juicy nuggets of info about this album, so I will add to them...

I often wonder if the reduction of polymetric music on this album is due to the lack of Jason Rullo. There's still boatloads of odd time signatures and crazy riffs, but nothing like that groove in The Eyes of Medusa. Food for thought.

I see this album as a sister album to the slightly superior Divine Wings, as the sound and style of the music is relatively the same. I actually think there's less duds on this album (actually, there's not really any if you don't count the time-filling Sonata), but the highs here mostly do not reach Divine Wings' highs. Still, this is one of three high-quality albums that feature the band at peak melodic neoclassical capacity.

Smoke and Mirrors is the opener, and while it's a bit slower than Of Sins and Shadows, it's still a blistering exercise in neoclassical fun with an energized Russell on top.
  • The album starts in Gm with some swept arpeggios by Romeo (doubled by Pinnella's harpsichord) as the rhythm section highlights staccato chord changes underneath. This is not only technically impressive, but it sounds great.
    • Romeo rips away with the song's main riff, and when the drums kick in Miller doubles the line on bass (the frenetic nature of the part makes this rather impressive). Pinnella provides the melody with a string motif that fits beautifully over the craziness beneath; this sense of non-vocal melody is something that was diminished a bit on the band's three most recent albums.
    • A half-time groovy riff kicks in, with Pinnella adding texture via more harpsichord. Nice drum fills in this section, too.
  • The verse drops to Dm and Russell emerges from his cocoon, channeling his inner Dio. Lyrically this song sounds like utter nonsense, but I'm not the one to dig into lyrics. Russ slays here, of course. Musically, I've never been a fan of the constant 16th-note chugging on one note; I feel like the guitar and bass could have been staccato and even polymetric here. But it's not a huge deal. I love the syncopated full-band fills every few measures to break up the uncreative monotony beneath. The section rather unpredictably ends with a measure of 3/4 tritone stops and a drum fill.
  • The pre-chorus is very interesting, as it is in 9/8. Russell is more drawn-out here (with some grit on the second pre-chorus), but the section grooves and is a great lead-in to the chorus. "Touched by the kiss of the sunrise!"
  • I find the chorus to be the strongest of an opener yet, as it is more melodic in general than the previous opener's. Great vocal harmonies as Romeo noodles away on a Nintendo-sounding pedal riff. On the repeat of the chorus, a drum fill and some bass noodling lead into...
  • ...a very neoclassical bridge that begins in Fm and switches to Cm halfway through. This ominous-sounding section is very open and very tasteful, which I love. Pinnella's organ really highlights the church room feel. Praise the gods!
    • Solo time! We remain in Cm here as Pinnella noodles away. Lots of scalar runs, which is... fine. The riff underneath is a bouncy groove in classic Symphony X tonality, with stops every four and eight measures for the soloists to get their lil' runs in. Pinnella shows us some pitch wheel action here, too. 8/10.
    • Up to Dm for Romeo's first slice of moist solo cake. The beginning and middle of this solo grab me the most, as I prefer Romeo in the "palm-muted Adrian Smith" range to the "legato tapping showing off" range. I think the former is more creative, and the phrasing is simply catchier. 9/10.
    • Taking a trip down to Fm, we have Pinnella again. This is more scalar wanking, but there's more phrasing here with some trills and such. 9/10.
    • Our final solo climbs to the song's original key of Gm for the Romeo showcase. This is typical Romeo, which blows 99.9% of guitarists out of the water but has little substance beyond the initial "did he just play that?!" reaction. 7/10.
    • The final two measures of this section feature an ascending lick and a descending one, in a glorious full-band synced moment. I'm partial to the bass here, as it's not in most bass players' wheelhouses.
  • The main riff and chorus repeat here, with nothing new to note. But then Russell wails the song's title over that main riff in what is arguably the greatest part of this song. He even tops it off with a Dio-ish "Ohhh, the night calls!" A big drum fill brings the song to a close.
This is a relatively straightforward song by Symphony X standards, but it is a great example of how well the band can blend neoclassical elements with melody and power. It lacks the dramatic punchiness heard in Of Sins and Shadows, but it makes up for it with a stronger chorus. I do think the solo section here is a bit dull, though, as the same riff repeats in four different keys for a full minute with little variety. Of Sins and Shadows has a more exciting solo section by far.
 
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@LooseCannon

She loves Russ. Nothing but praise. I think she said she first heard him in Ayreon on The Source, and she pulls apart a lot of his lines here. With this video I’ve only made it up to Scylla and Charybdis because it’s long.
 
Yeah I actually watched the whole video today, it's long, but I have lots of paperwork.
 
Looks like this was the set list for the first night of the tour.

www.setlist.fm

Symphony X Setlist at Irving Plaza, New York

Get the Symphony X Setlist of the concert at Irving Plaza, New York, NY, USA on May 10, 2022 from the 25th Anniversary North American Tour 2022 Tour and other Symphony X Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
www.setlist.fm www.setlist.fm


Too much underworld for my liking. I'm also disappointed that it's only 9 songs. Seeing The Odyssey though will be fucking amazing. :edmetal:
 
Lampwick 43 said:
Looks like this was the set list for the first night of the tour.

www.setlist.fm

Symphony X Setlist at Irving Plaza, New York

Get the Symphony X Setlist of the concert at Irving Plaza, New York, NY, USA on May 10, 2022 from the 25th Anniversary North American Tour 2022 Tour and other Symphony X Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
www.setlist.fm www.setlist.fm


Too much underworld for my liking. I'm also disappointed that it's only 9 songs. Seeing The Odyssey though will be fucking amazing. :edmetal:
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I think I’m getting too old and jaded for live music. Every band I love is getting boring and lazy as fuck with their setlists.
 
It's truly not a good set, nor is it an accurate representation of their entire career (which should be expected given that it's a 25th anniversary tour). I understand not playing anything from the debut album, but playing four freaking songs from Underworld while snubbing Damnation Game and especially Twilight in Olympus is a joke. I understand that Underworld is the band's most recent album, so I would understand two songs at most from it. But playing something like Run with the Devil while leaving out older material is insulting.

They're also only playing 75 minutes, while Haken is playing for an hour. I don't have a problem with Symphony X playing this set during a non-anniversary tour, but come on. They didn't spend enough time practicing due to laziness and probably just threw this set together at the last minute because they've played these songs for years and are comfortable with them. To my knowledge, only one of the songs hasn't been played in a while, but it's not one I had much desire to see again.
 
“Church Of The Machine”:

Spacey synths slowly build into a heavily harmonized group chorus with pipe organ support. This gives way to a synth lead reminiscent of the theme from The Exorcist, gradually joined by the rest of the band until it morphs into a cool odd-rhythm guitar interlude. This leads into a more driving guitar and synth section with some rhythmic change-ups and “heys” before settling into another complex guitar rhythm.

This finally rolls into a pretty strong verse and a somewhat awkward pre-chorus 1 before returning to the chorus. Some descending guitar runs flow into a nice odd-rhythm vocal bridge that fades into some more “heys”, then does another run through the verse, a new pre-chorus 2, then pre-chorus 1 and the chorus.

A hint of the Exorcist synths and then we’re propelled into a series of blistering guitar and synth tradeoff solos. A brief neoclassical break rolls back into the chorus, then a driving guitar instrumental, before the Exorcist synths return for a rhythmically playful outro.

(On YouTube this track ends incredibly abruptly, in mid-note. Since I ran into an issue like this before on an official Symphony X track on YouTube, I’m going to assume this is a glitch and not what it actually does on the album.)

This is a strong song with some great instrumental parts, but the pre-choruses aren’t the best, and the chorus, while good, still feels a little low-rent. Let’s say 7/10.
 
Jer said:
(On YouTube this track ends incredibly abruptly, in mid-note. Since I ran into an issue like this before on an official Symphony X track on YouTube, I’m going to assume this is a glitch and not what it actually does on the album.)
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I’m pretty sure this is just because it segues directly into the interlude “Sonata”, and when you listen to the full album it’s not nearly as abrupt.
 
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