Symphony X

[KidInTheDark666]

I just saw Symphony X last night for the first time. Quite a good show I would say, the band (Mr. Allen in particular) were seemingly in a great mood and also in a great form performance-wise. Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen a vocalist nail the fuck out of their decades-old songs in that manner. The show included a lot of banter and (a bit too much) crowd participation, they could've easily played a few more songs instead. Also, the encore break was around 15 minutes long, I was about to fall asleep lol.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how into it the audience was even with the newer material. I think opening with Iconoclast is not a good move at all, but whatever. Inferno was the third song of the show, it probably should've been the opener given how nuts the crowd went during it. Without You was another highlight as well as Evolution. The cons of the show were, well, the fact that 8 out of the 12 songs were from the last three albums. I think most would agree that Iconoclast and To Hell and Back are not their best 10-minute tracks. I also don't really see how Underworld is relevant enough in 2024 to get four spots in that short of a setlist but whatever. The stage lighting sucked balls, I couldn't see Lepond and Pinnella for the whole show. Good thing I at least spotted a Lepond lookalike on my train while going to the show...

And last but not least, Russell promised that a new album would be coming out sometime in 2025. Pretty exciting. He also said that Symphony X would never take another long break from touring or recording until their "wheels fucking fall off". I got the impression that he was being serious but we shall see.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

I just saw Symphony X last night for the first time. Quite a good show I would say, the band (Mr. Allen in particular) were seemingly in a great mood and also in a great form performance-wise. Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen a vocalist nail the fuck out of their decades-old songs in that manner. The show included a lot of banter and (a bit too much) crowd participation, they could've easily played a few more songs instead. Also, the encore break was around 15 minutes long, I was about to fall asleep lol.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how into it the audience was even with the newer material. I think opening with Iconoclast is not a good move at all, but whatever. Inferno was the third song of the show, it probably should've been the opener given how nuts the crowd went during it. Without You was another highlight as well as Evolution. The cons of the show were, well, the fact that 8 out of the 12 songs were from the last three albums. I think most would agree that Iconoclast and To Hell and Back are not their best 10-minute tracks. I also don't really see how Underworld is relevant enough in 2024 to get four spots in that short of a setlist but whatever. The stage lighting sucked balls, I couldn't see Lepond and Pinnella for the whole show. Good thing I at least spotted a Lepond lookalike on my train while going to the show...

And last but not least, Russell promised that a new album would be coming out sometime in 2025. Pretty exciting. He also said that Symphony X would never take another long break from touring or recording until their "wheels fucking fall off". I got the impression that he was being serious but we shall see.

I checked the setlist, what I'd make of it.
You know, it's funny, I'm mostly the prog + neoclassical / power bloke and yet my favourite album is probably Paradise Lost (along with Odyssey) and I genuinely like Iconoclast more than most ... and yet I find the setlists absolutely baffling. Like, even concentrating on these last three albums, I definitely wouldn't pick what they picked. I'd still enjoy the concert, 100%, but still...

Spoiler: My dream setlist with their self-imposed limitations in mind

1. Set the World on Fire
2. Underworld
3. Eve of Seduction
4. Dehumanized
5. Children of a Faceless God
6. Revelation / Walls of Babylon
7. Fallen
8. Charon
9. The Accolade (1 or 2)
10. Inferno

Encore:
11. Paradise Lost
12. Out of the Ashes
13. Legend

 

[KidInTheDark666]

I checked the setlist, what I'd make of it.
You know, it's funny, I'm mostly the prog + neoclassical / power bloke and yet my favourite album is probably Paradise Lost (along with Odyssey) and I genuinely like Iconoclast more than most ... and yet I find the setlists absolutely baffling. Like, even concentrating on these last three albums, I definitely wouldn't pick what they picked. I'd still enjoy the concert, 100%, but still...

Spoiler: My dream setlist with their self-imposed limitations in mind

1. Set the World on Fire
2. Underworld
3. Eve of Seduction
4. Dehumanized
5. Children of a Faceless God
6. Revelation / Walls of Babylon
7. Fallen
8. Charon
9. The Accolade (1 or 2)
10. Inferno

Encore:
11. Paradise Lost
12. Out of the Ashes
13. Legend

Right, I don't get how they play four from Underworld and somehow still leave the great title track out, lol. Eve of Seduction is one that I'd like to see too.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Glad you got to see them and witness Russell’s power live! He’s always incredible.

Their setlists have been disappointingly stale for over a decade and it’s maddening. I love them to death, but I’m honestly at the “not rushing to buy tickets” phase.

The biggest head scratcher is their insistence on playing Run With The Devil at every gig (and extending it with stupid band intros). It’s an ok song, but it’s a deep cut, it sounds nothing like most SX songs, and IMO it’s just not that great live. Insane that they play that tune and skip other Underworld songs like the title track, Kiss of Fire, and Legend (which all killed live back on the album tour).

 

[JudasMyGuide]

The biggest head scratcher is their insistence on playing Run With The Devil at every gig (and extending it with stupid band intros). It’s an ok song, but it’s a deep cut, it sounds nothing like most SX songs, and IMO it’s just not that great live. Insane that they play that tune and skip other Underworld songs like the title track, Kiss of Fire, and Legend (which all killed live back on the album tour).

Yeah, that's absolutely baffling. I'm just imagining Maiden taking Chains of Misery and going out of their way to play that one at every concert.

 

[Detective Beauregard]

This is my semi-realistic* Symphony X set:

01. Underworld
02. Domination
03. Church of the Machine
04. Heretic
05. Rediscovery
06. Kiss of Fire
07. Reign in Madness
08. Accolade II
09. The Walls of Babylon
10. King of Terrors
11. Legend

12. The Divine Wings of Tragedy

*A set that actually has post-Odyssey stuff

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

This is my semi-realistic* Symphony X set:

01. Underworld
02. Domination
03. Church of the Machine
04. Heretic
05. Rediscovery
06. Kiss of Fire
07. Reign in Madness
08. Accolade II
09. The Walls of Babylon
10. King of Terrors
11. Legend

12. The Divine Wings of Tragedy

*A set that actually has post-Odyssey stuff

This would be amazing. Let me edit it, though, to the songs they actually might ever play again...

This is my semi-realistic* Symphony X set:

01. Underworld
02. Domination
03. Church of the Machine
04. Heretic
05. Rediscovery
06. Kiss of Fire
07. Reign in Madness
08. Accolade II
09. The Walls of Babylon
10. King of Terrors
11. Legend

12. The Divine Wings of Tragedy

 

[Mosh]

You guys make good points re: Underworld. They are acting like they are still on tour promoting this album yet it's almost a decade old. Knick is right - at this point continuing to play Run With the Devil is basically akin to any other deep cut. At this point I would actually prefer if they dropped an Underworld song or two and replaced it with something else on Paradise Lost (a far superior record) or even Iconoclast. If they want to ignore their pre-Paradise Lost material, at least distribute things more evenly across the three albums. Using last night's show as a template:

Iconoclast
Nevermore
Inferno
Serpent's Kiss
Electric Messiah
To Hell and Back
Accolade II
Set the World on Fire

Paradise Lost
Out of the Ashes
Sea of Lies

Only two changes but it makes a big difference imo.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

 

[JudasMyGuide]

Eh, when I clicked on the notification I was hoping for album news (there has been some talk around the end of 2024, hasn't it?).

Anyway, especially with Sonata Arctica, I'd go see them, were it in Europe. Oh well.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Eh, when I clicked on the notification I was hoping for album news (there has been some talk around the end of 2024, hasn't it?).

Yeah, the tour announcement says: "The Rumors are true, we are heading out this fall with our friends Sonata Arctica, to close the final chapter of the Underworld, and to start the next story!"

Might as well just say, "we won't be adding any new songs to the setlist for the 10th year in a row!"

 

[JudasMyGuide]

The next announcement - "No, the album is nowhere near finished. Would you like another tour with Run with the Devil?"

(sorry, a George RR Martin PTSD flashback)

 

[Mosh]

Can we officially label this as a nostalgia tour?

 

[JudasMyGuide]

Can we officially label this as a nostalgia tour?

I'm torn between all the "nostalgia" amounting merely to the old album covers shining through the font on the poster (I mean, there's Twilight in Olympus, lol. As if Romeo had any idea what songs are on that album) and between the fact the last album was before:
- three of my children,
- my second degree, I graduated, started my career, switched jobs two times before starting to work at the uni and getting a second degree in a completely different field,
- three moves and several years of renovating,
- my health issues,
- we had the second cat,
- I quit smoking and switched for pipe,
- I converted and became Catholic,
- wifey learned to paint and became a published illustrator,
- Covid,
- Harambe

but still, I wouldn't dub it "nostalgia tour", more like "flogging the dead horse back to life tour".

 

[Mosh]

Other things that were true when Nevermore came out:

- I had just graduated high school.
- Obama was still president.
- The current Nintendo console was the Wii U.
- The Force Awakens had not yet been released.
- There were only two Avengers movies.
- Dream Theater was touring on their 12th self titled album and celebrating their 30th anniversary with a summer festival run.
- Iron Maiden had just announced their 16th album, The Book of Souls. Brave New World was about to celebrate a 15 year anniversary.
- Black Wizard still posted on here.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

+
- the last Batman was still Christian Bale
- David Cameron was still the PM of the UK
- Love Me Like You Do, Fight Song and Adele's Hello were on the charts
- Brexit was not a thing
- David Bowie was still alive and hasn't yet released Blackstar
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies came out just the year before
- The Hunger Games was still in cinemas
- the release of Underworld was closer to the release of AMOLAD, the time when Syd Barrett was alive, the worldwide criminalisation of slavery and the birth of Twitter than it is to today
- in cca November this year, the time period since the release of Underworld will be longer than the entirety of The Beatles being together

 

[Diesel 11]

I first got into metal in January 2015, beyond the songs I would hear on rock/classic rock radio.

Underworld was released in July 2015.

I first listened to Symphony X in March 2020.

Symphony X released the follow up to Underworld in 2056, although the only ones able to hear it were AI-generated phytoplankton.

 

[Mosh]

In all seriousness, how much do people actually want a new Symphony X album? I expect this to be very similar to Metallica, where there might be some decent songs but you know their hearts aren't really in it. And when you consider that the band seems pretty disconnected from what a lot of their fans appreciate about their sound (prog/power influences, soaring vocals, keyboards), I just have a hard time getting excited about the prospect of new music from this band. Underworld was decent but already felt like going through the motions and that's an album that "only" took 4 years to make.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

In all seriousness, how much do people actually want a new Symphony X album? I expect this to be very similar to Metallica, where there might be some decent songs but you know their hearts aren't really in it. And when you consider that the band seems pretty disconnected from what a lot of their fans appreciate about their sound (prog/power influences, soaring vocals, keyboards), I just have a hard time getting excited about the prospect of new music from this band. Underworld was decent but already felt like going through the motions and that's an album that "only" took 4 years to make.

I want new Symphony X if for no other reason than having some new songs to hear live.

I actually think their hearts are very much in the newer material. And as long as it’s like Underworld and not Iconoclast, I’m happy with SX swinging solely in the B+ tier. It’s still better than 90% of other metal music.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

In all seriousness, how much do people actually want a new Symphony X album? I expect this to be very similar to Metallica, where there might be some decent songs but you know their hearts aren't really in it. And when you consider that the band seems pretty disconnected from what a lot of their fans appreciate about their sound (prog/power influences, soaring vocals, keyboards), I just have a hard time getting excited about the prospect of new music from this band. Underworld was decent but already felt like going through the motions and that's an album that "only" took 4 years to make.

Good point. If you asked me 8 years ago, I'd say I definitely do want a new album, as not only I genuinely loved Paradise Lost and thought Iconoclast is severely underrated (if you take it for what it is) - both of which still stand - but I also was still under the Underworld spell. I've grown out of my love for Underworld in the meantime (Legend, Charon and Kiss of Fire, for the sheer joy of Rullo blastbeating still get regular rotation from me, but other than that, the album's really meh) and I do fear that the next album is going to be worse, probably (unless this was the rare case where a long pause would help them get rejuvenated in the studio, but the constant cabaretour doesn't make it seem that way).

Still, releasing new music gives the off chance of it actually being awesome, unlike not releasing anything that gives the certainty of not being awesome. And besides, even Tullica had some great songs in them yet, I think Symph X do as well.

I mean, imagine you see the tracklist, you see the closer is 20 minutes long and your heart does start beating a bit faster, now doesn't it?