Symphony X
Underworld
Frontiers Music Srl
2015
Some four years after “Iconoclast” an album that you only got to hear fully if you purchased the oblong digipack limited edition, Symphony X, are back once more with an album that tries to curb the enthusiasm of the band for more “new” sounds and try to look towards the bands glorious past. It’s quite possible that the modernist approach the band had taken in the past couple of albums was due to their singer Russel Allen, who seemed to be rather enjoying himself in the recent Adrenaline Mob albums... but must have managed to get most of his bottled up aggression there.
“Underworld” – the album is not a “concept” album as per se. It’s got this lose “thread” and a uniform feel, but it’s not a story driven concept. The excellent artwork, (by some big shot artist that now escapes me) is also a nod to Dante’s Divine Comedy, which seems to have inspired the basis of the album.
The band walks a fine line between trying to not lose the fans they gained on their latter albums, (since “Paradise Lost”) but at the same time they attempt to go back and re-embrace some of the old-school fans, that found the more modern and aggressive riffing on the said releases a little one dimensional and not too original.
The overall sound harkens to “Paradise Lost” and the album before that and that’s probably a good thing because as good “Iconoclast” was, it only seemed to divide and polarize based on the more aggressive new style, that seemed to be changing the core of the band. This probably half conscious effort to recapture the band’s more neoclassical flair, bears some pretty good results and seems like a step in the right direction. In any case they are almost untouchable, in a style that they almost singlehandedly formed and have championed ever since they came into existence. Gosh I do miss the early days of prog metal… those were exciting times and it’s a real shame a few bands from that era, didn’t manage to survive “it”...
Onto the album I guess...
“Overture” is, you guessed it, an impressive overture, that’s pretty dark, epic and has its choirs and everything and serves as nice introduction to the albums main single “Nevermore” which is rather OK I guess... tries to be aggressive, but it’s quite prog and mellow chorus, while interesting, feels a bit lacking. Don’t get me wrong, it’s more towards the “melodic-prog” S-X, that I like, while maintaining the edgy sound of the last couple of albums, but it’s just not the best thing the band has ever done.
The title track fares quite better, as it encompasses pretty much every aspect of the band, that’s likeable, with an emphasis on the current state and a more melodic slant (heavy on the keys) yet still managing to combine the more aggressive recent style with a bridge/chorus, pulled out of the yesteryears. Pretty rewarding as a listen!
On “Without You” initially I thought, Fates Warning, around “Inside Out” which is one of my favorite latter day FW albums, only a little less complex and as it goes on it turns a bit in something more akin to later day Evergrey. Well it still swings towards the band's earlier style and for that reason alone, it’s quite likeable actually and in the flow of the album it works a lot better.
“Kiss of Fire” is another typical Symphony X power metal stomper, but while it’s up to the band’s usual standards riff and solo wise, the chorus part isn’t exactly the most imaginative the band has come out with...
“Charon” is pretty riffy, but has some traces of more mellow ideas running through it and is quite lyrical, with all its “eastern” influences... making it one of the better songs on the album... its chorus, still haunting me...
“To Hell and Back” manages to mingle softer aspects from the past, with the current aggression, without becoming too stagnant at some point, but because of the class of the people involved, it doesn’t really cause that much of an issue... although, it could have been quite better... it somewhat seems unable to keep the listeners engaged throughout its entirety and it’s only the performances that keep it afloat and it's quite decent chorus.
“In My Darkest Hour” begins with a dark verse and just hits back with an interesting chorus, exhibiting all of the bands trademarks without deviating too much. Not bad at all.
“Run with the Devil” is more modern and slightly neo-Theateresque, but has a quite epic chorus that contrasts with the rest of the song. Jason Rullo is quite the highlight here, as he is vying for the spotlight, plunging through the song with extreme fervor.
“Swan Song” is quite beautiful as Michael Pinnella really shines on this one, one of the album’s most varied and interesting compositions even in its comparatively (when one puts it side to side, with the rest of the album tracks) simpler, more fragile form. Deeply lyrical I believe, would be an apt description, with only the “solo” parts, standing out, as quite different from the rest of the song...
Last but not least “Legend” bring things to a close, stepping up things to the bands normal modus operandi, majestic, lyrical, big and quite punchy, for a closer, quite reminiscent of the band’s style on the earlier albums. Lots of solos here and quite impressive ones at that. “The Legend Never Dies”. Indeed!
Overall, Symphony X returns with another respectable offering, that tries to marry the more recent with earlier styles of the band and almost manages to achieve that quite capably. It does indeed sound pretty good, since all the guys in this band are quite superb musicians and it should appease the fans of the band as well. I can’t exactly say that it blew me away, but overall, I was quite impressed as always. Still the band with a style, that they have made entirely their “own”, have no direct competition. They have modernized the Malmsteen sort of epic neoclassical metal style and taken it to a new and exciting direction, with all the prog influences that they were among the first to fuse it with.
“Underworld” is a must for any fan of Symphony X. It’s not the pivotal album that will turn you into a fan, look to earlier albums for that, but it still easily ticks all boxes it needs to. I guess I like it a bit better than “Iconoclast”, although it fails to reach the heights of “Paradise Lost”... I guess it does in fact manage to put the band back on the right track, from which they had seemed to stray a bit... Along with Darkology’s last month’s “Fated to Burn”, “Underworld”, is a must buy if you like your metal dark, lyrical and sufficiently virtuosic, but without missing the point! Damn just when I thought I was going to chill out…
“Underworld” – the album is not a “concept” album as per se. It’s got this lose “thread” and a uniform feel, but it’s not a story driven concept. The excellent artwork, (by some big shot artist that now escapes me) is also a nod to Dante’s Divine Comedy, which seems to have inspired the basis of the album.
The band walks a fine line between trying to not lose the fans they gained on their latter albums, (since “Paradise Lost”) but at the same time they attempt to go back and re-embrace some of the old-school fans, that found the more modern and aggressive riffing on the said releases a little one dimensional and not too original.
The overall sound harkens to “Paradise Lost” and the album before that and that’s probably a good thing because as good “Iconoclast” was, it only seemed to divide and polarize based on the more aggressive new style, that seemed to be changing the core of the band. This probably half conscious effort to recapture the band’s more neoclassical flair, bears some pretty good results and seems like a step in the right direction. In any case they are almost untouchable, in a style that they almost singlehandedly formed and have championed ever since they came into existence. Gosh I do miss the early days of prog metal… those were exciting times and it’s a real shame a few bands from that era, didn’t manage to survive “it”...
Onto the album I guess...
“Overture” is, you guessed it, an impressive overture, that’s pretty dark, epic and has its choirs and everything and serves as nice introduction to the albums main single “Nevermore” which is rather OK I guess... tries to be aggressive, but it’s quite prog and mellow chorus, while interesting, feels a bit lacking. Don’t get me wrong, it’s more towards the “melodic-prog” S-X, that I like, while maintaining the edgy sound of the last couple of albums, but it’s just not the best thing the band has ever done.
The title track fares quite better, as it encompasses pretty much every aspect of the band, that’s likeable, with an emphasis on the current state and a more melodic slant (heavy on the keys) yet still managing to combine the more aggressive recent style with a bridge/chorus, pulled out of the yesteryears. Pretty rewarding as a listen!
On “Without You” initially I thought, Fates Warning, around “Inside Out” which is one of my favorite latter day FW albums, only a little less complex and as it goes on it turns a bit in something more akin to later day Evergrey. Well it still swings towards the band's earlier style and for that reason alone, it’s quite likeable actually and in the flow of the album it works a lot better.
“Kiss of Fire” is another typical Symphony X power metal stomper, but while it’s up to the band’s usual standards riff and solo wise, the chorus part isn’t exactly the most imaginative the band has come out with...
“Charon” is pretty riffy, but has some traces of more mellow ideas running through it and is quite lyrical, with all its “eastern” influences... making it one of the better songs on the album... its chorus, still haunting me...
“To Hell and Back” manages to mingle softer aspects from the past, with the current aggression, without becoming too stagnant at some point, but because of the class of the people involved, it doesn’t really cause that much of an issue... although, it could have been quite better... it somewhat seems unable to keep the listeners engaged throughout its entirety and it’s only the performances that keep it afloat and it's quite decent chorus.
“In My Darkest Hour” begins with a dark verse and just hits back with an interesting chorus, exhibiting all of the bands trademarks without deviating too much. Not bad at all.
“Run with the Devil” is more modern and slightly neo-Theateresque, but has a quite epic chorus that contrasts with the rest of the song. Jason Rullo is quite the highlight here, as he is vying for the spotlight, plunging through the song with extreme fervor.
“Swan Song” is quite beautiful as Michael Pinnella really shines on this one, one of the album’s most varied and interesting compositions even in its comparatively (when one puts it side to side, with the rest of the album tracks) simpler, more fragile form. Deeply lyrical I believe, would be an apt description, with only the “solo” parts, standing out, as quite different from the rest of the song...
Last but not least “Legend” bring things to a close, stepping up things to the bands normal modus operandi, majestic, lyrical, big and quite punchy, for a closer, quite reminiscent of the band’s style on the earlier albums. Lots of solos here and quite impressive ones at that. “The Legend Never Dies”. Indeed!
Overall, Symphony X returns with another respectable offering, that tries to marry the more recent with earlier styles of the band and almost manages to achieve that quite capably. It does indeed sound pretty good, since all the guys in this band are quite superb musicians and it should appease the fans of the band as well. I can’t exactly say that it blew me away, but overall, I was quite impressed as always. Still the band with a style, that they have made entirely their “own”, have no direct competition. They have modernized the Malmsteen sort of epic neoclassical metal style and taken it to a new and exciting direction, with all the prog influences that they were among the first to fuse it with.
“Underworld” is a must for any fan of Symphony X. It’s not the pivotal album that will turn you into a fan, look to earlier albums for that, but it still easily ticks all boxes it needs to. I guess I like it a bit better than “Iconoclast”, although it fails to reach the heights of “Paradise Lost”... I guess it does in fact manage to put the band back on the right track, from which they had seemed to stray a bit... Along with Darkology’s last month’s “Fated to Burn”, “Underworld”, is a must buy if you like your metal dark, lyrical and sufficiently virtuosic, but without missing the point! Damn just when I thought I was going to chill out…