October 10, 2000 - Symphony X and V: The New Mythology Suite

A new band joins my library when Symphony X released their fifth album "V: The New Mythology Suite" on October 10, 2000. But who is Symphony X? They are a five-piece progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey consisting of lead vocalist Russell Allen, guitarist Michael Romeo, keyboardist Michael Pinnella, bassist Michael LePond and drummer Jason Rullo. I'm not a huge Symphony X fan (this is my only album by them), but this album has some good progressive metal similar in style to Dream Theater and others in the genre. Let's see what Symphony X are all about!

The album fittingly starts with "Prelude" and it's a pretty exciting short intro song with some epic choir-like vocals and some cool fast keyboards by Pinnella. They set the stage very nicely and segue perfectly into "Evolution (The Grand Design)" where we hear sole nice fast drums by Rullo as well as some pretty sweet guitar by Romeo that leads the way. Allen comes in to sing for the first time and he has a high, epic singing voice that sounds like a more symphonic version of James LaBrie. "Drags" isn't the right word, but the more Allen sings the less epic and exciting it becomes I find. The music is nice and fast and solid though and after a couple rounds Pinnella goes off for a keyboard solo and it's the kind of super fast and progressive solo that we'd expect from a progressive metal band. Romeo plays some cool guitar to nicely tie things back to the main riff and after a couple final choruses the progressiveness continues as they move seamlessly into track 3, "Fallen". Pinnella plays one high keyboard riff and also a completely different complementary keyboard riff in a pretty cool opening and out of this Romeo enters with a solid main guitar riff. He plays some cool guitar throughout the verse and chorus and Allen continues to sing in his overpoweringly epic voice. You could definitely do a lot worse for sure, but it's also not my favourite because it sounds like he's trying too hard to fit the part. Once they hit solo time we are treated to back and forth guitar and keyboard solos and while are both pretty good, I think the keyboards sound almost muted and too quiet, while the guitar sounds much better. They sync up for a couple pretty cool parts with both of them playing pretty fast and the instrumental parts of the song are definitely the highlights on this one. They end with a final chorus and it seems every song on this album will flow into the next one (which makes sense since this is a concept album) as we run right into the next track "Transcendence (Segue)", which is only 38 seconds long. It's a very epic 38 seconds though as it sounds like there's a whole symphony! I love the horns and the strings sounds good too, and the choir returns for a truly epic segue that brings us to track 5, "Communion And The Oracle", where Romeo plays a solid acoustic guitar riff and Pinnella follows with some nice matching piano. The rhythm section comes next with a nice drum beat and some cool bass as well and all together this makes for a pretty cool riff! We hear some more strings that I think only add to the epicness and finally Allen comes in to sing a lighter verse that isn't in his epic voice! I think he sounds better like this honestly and he matches the mood of this main riff nicely. Romeo delivers a short but solid guitar solo between verses and then eventually gets a chance for a longer solo which has it's moments, but is also slow at times. The end of this near eight minute song is also a little slow and uneventful, so the second half was decent, but the first half was good. Up next is "The Bird-Serpent War / Cataclysm" and it's got a pretty heavy main riff with some pretty sweet guitar by Romeo leading the way and Pinnella adding some epic synths to the background. Allen sings a solid verse and chorus on this one and the guitar continues to be really cool the whole way through. Solo time starts with a pretty cool guitar solo, and ends with a decent but not amazing keyboard solo. The last 30 seconds or so is just the sound of waves crashing and it takes us to track 7 "On The Breath Of Poseidon (Segue)" where we're greeted with some more epic orchestral music including some more solid horns. None of the band members actually play this orchestral music, but it does sound pretty cool I must admit and it makes for a great backdrop to some cool metal music overtop. This segue is much longer, at three minutes it's really just an instrumental interlude that sounds like it's right out of the climax of a movie! The end sets the stage nicely for the next track "Egypt" and Romeo plays some Egyptian sounding rhythm guitar that sounds solid and Pinnella adds some fitting keyboards as well to really cement the vibe. Romeo ends up playing some wicked electric guitar overtop and along with some solid piano this all combines for some cool stuff for sure. Allen sings a decent light verse and the music backing him is decent, but nothing like the cool stuff that preceded the verse. Apparently the two can't coincide, but thankfully after Allen is done singing we can get back to some pretty sweet progressive metal. In this long instrumental part Romeo plays a ton of awesome guitar and LePond also plays some pretty cool bass for a bit. Eventually Allen returns for a final verse and chorus, then Pinnella ends the song with some pretty awesome piano. A fantastic way to wrap things up! Track 9 is "The Death Of Balance / Lacrymosa" and Pinnella plays some interesting keyboards to start us off that sound pretty epic and cool and Romeo plays some chugging guitar to back him in this pretty awesome opening. Russo plays several awesome drum fills and then the orchestral music sounds great as strings and horns join the rest of the cool metal. Everything sounds awesome until some epic choir singers take over and I think they sound good, but way less good than what we were hearing before as the music takes a big step back. It fits the epic vibe these guys have going on, but the first half of it is so awesome and this really just takes the air out of things. Up next is "Absence Of Light" and Romeo leads the way with a nice heavy guitar riff and Pinnella delivers an early keyboard solo that sounds pretty wicked! Romeo follows that with a sweet guitar solo and this is a pretty great way to open things! Pinnella switches to a cool piano riff and Romeo plays a perfect guitar riff to blend with it for some cool stuff. Allen sings a typically epic verse once he eventually comes in and he sounds solid here and in the catchy chorus. After a couple rounds it's solo time again and this time we go guitar first followed by keyboards, both of which are pretty good once again. This is definitely one of the best songs on the album and Romeo closes it out with some super fast guitar that sounds really cool. Track 11 is "A Fool's Paradise" and Romeo plays some more fast and pretty cool guitar to lead the way while the rest of the band nicely backs him. Allen hits some pretty high notes in this verse and the chorus is another pretty catchy one as Romeo continues to drive things with lots of cool guitar. After another solid round Romeo and Pinnella trade short but epic solos, then they team up for a really cool part with both of them going fast and beautifully playing off each other, phenomenal little section! They tie this nicely back to the main riff for a final verse and chorus and as things fade out Romeo plays an epic light guitar riff ti close us put and it leads right into our final interlude "Rediscovery (Segue)". Pinnella plays some epic synths overtop the light guitar and that pretty much sums up this short segue that of course perfectly sets the stage for the longest and final track on the album, "Rediscovery (Part II) - The New Mythology". It's twelve minutes long and it has a cool instrumental opening minute with with some cool guitar and keyboards both sharing the spotlight. Romeo occasionally speeds up for some great stuff, but most of the time the guitar and keyboards are both ongoing, but never getting in each other's way and blending very nicely. Short guitar solo is pretty wicked by Romeo, then Pinnella takes over with some epic lead piano and backing synths. There's a decent singing part with lots of backing vocals and then Allen takes it away himself with an epic verse overtop some more epic piano. The bass is pretty good in the background and we also hear some strings that sound nice before Romeo suddenly takes us a new direction with some pretty sweet guitar. Another nice segue takes us back for another verse, and then it's solo time as Romeo and Pinnella trade a ton of short solos back and forth in a pretty awesome part. It's long too as they both get to show off a bunch, especially some pretty sweet piano! Allen finally returns for a short verse and then they beautifully segue to the grand finale with the orchestral music in full blast behind the band. A fittingly epic way to end such an epic album!

That is the end of "V: The New Mythology Suite" and I thought it was a good album for sure! Michael Romeo and Michael Pinnella are the driving forces, especially Romeo for me, and they both play a ton of good stuff throughout the album. Russell Allen is not my favourite singer though and ultimately I think this falls into pretty good, but not amazing progressive metal. It's my only Symphony X album, but I think it's definitely still a worthy addition to the library.