Symphony X (
English pronunciation: /ˌsɪmfəni ˈɛks/) is an American progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey. Founded in 1994 by guitarist Michael Romeo, their albums
The Divine Wings of Tragedy and
V: The New Mythology Suite have given the band considerable attention within the progressive metal community. They also have achieved more commercial success with the 2007 album
Paradise Lost; the band's 2011 album
Iconoclast is the highest chart position and the most first-week sales in the band's history.
Biography
The Dark Chapter, Symphony X and The Damnation Game (1994−1995)
In early 1994 Michael Romeo (ex-Phantom's Opera, ex-Gemini) recorded a studio album entitled
The Dark Chapter, which featured himself and keyboard player Michael Pinnella.
[1] The tape attracted a fair share of attention, particularly in
Japan.
[1] He then recruited bassist Thomas Miller, drummer
Jason Rullo, and vocalist
Rod Tyler.
[2] Their self-titled debut album was recorded in the same year, and released to a positive reception in Japan by the now-extinct record company Zero Corporation Label.
[3] The band's second studio album,
The Damnation Game, followed six months later. Singer Rod Tyler had left the band by then and was replaced by current singer
Russell Allen.
[4] The Divine Wings of Tragedy and Twilight in Olympus (1996−1998)
The Divine Wings of Tragedy was the album that first gave Symphony X exposure in metal circles. It took a considerable time to record the album, with the recording sessions beginning in 1996 and concluding in 1997. The positive feedback from the specialized press served to establish Symphony X in
Europe; their success in
Japan only continued to grow.
At the end of 1997 and for part of the next year, Jason Rullo, their drummer, had to stay away from the band in order to solve personal issues. He was temporarily replaced by Thomas Walling. Even with a temporary drummer, the band recorded
Twilight in Olympus, released in early 1998. That year also saw the first live performances from the band, which by then had already gathered many fans from around the globe. Their first official show happened in 1998, in
Japan. It was soon followed by a world tour. Bassist Thomas Miller left the band and was replaced by
Michael Lepond in that year.
A compilation album,
Prelude to the Millennium, was released by the end of 1998. As an extra, it featured a second version of the song "Masquerade" from the first album, with Russell Allen on vocals.
V: The New Mythology Suite and The Odyssey (1999−2002)
Jason Rullo returned to the drums for the band's fifth album,
V: The New Mythology Suite, released in 2000. It was the band's first release on major progressive label
InsideOut Music. The album was their first
concept album, dealing with the
myth of
Atlantis. The album features classics such as "Communion and the Oracle," "Egypt" and the mini-suite "Rediscovery," and includes pieces of classical music.
The band went on a European and South American tour shortly after its release and recorded their first live album,
Live on the Edge of Forever.
In 2002, the band released
The Odyssey, an album prominently featuring a 24-minute long musical interpretation of the
Homeric epic, the
Odyssey.
Solo albums (2003−2006)
Keyboardist Michael Pinnella released a solo album, entitled
Enter By the Twelfth Gate, on October 12, 2004.
[5] Vocalist Russell Allen's solo debut, entitled
Atomic Soul, was released in the summer of 2005. With this album, Allen took a different musical direction from that seen in his work with Symphony X. It was considered by many—including Allen himself—to be a
hard rock album.
[6] Also in 2005, he recorded an album called
The Battle with former
Masterplan vocalist
Jørn Lande under the moniker "Allen/Lande."
[7] The two would later record a follow-up album entitled
The Revenge, released May 11, 2007.
[8] In 2005 Symphony X was featured on
Gigantour, a summer festival headlined by
Megadeth with
Dream Theater and
Anthrax. Two Symphony X songs from the tour, "Inferno" and "Of Sins and Shadows," are featured on the Gigantour DVD and CD-set, released in September 2006.
[9][10] Paradise Lost (2007-2010)
The band's album
Paradise Lost, a concept album loosely inspired by
John Milton's
epic poem of the same name, was recorded in Romeo's studio and released worldwide on June 26, 2007. The band claimed this work had darker themes musically.
[11] The album included a special DVD of footage shot by the band throughout their history, available in
FYE stores.
[12] The release coincided with a 14-month world tour, including a tour through all of Europe with
Dream Theater in the fall of 2007.
[13] The band also revealed plans to perform in Japan and other Asian countries, as well as appear for the first time ever in Russia, India, and the Middle East.
[13]Paradise Lost debuted at number 123 on the
Billboard 200 album chart in the United States, selling 6,300 copies in its first week. The record also debuted at number 1 on the
Top Heatseekers Chart.
[14][15]Symphony X released their first
music video for the song "Serpent's Kiss" on July 28, 2007.
[16] It was followed by a video for "Set the World on Fire," released on January 11, 2008.
[17] The band toured North and South America from October to November 2008, and toured Asia in February 2009.
Iconoclast (2011-present)
On March 1, 2010, an update on the Symphony X official website announced that the band had recorded most of their next album and that Romeo and Allen were working on lyrics; Romeo was getting ready to start doing tracking for the album.
[18][19][20] The album's name and lyrical concept were revealed on January 29, 2011 in an interview by DJ JC Green of Metal Messiah Radio's "Heavy Metal Thunder" show with Russell Allen: the follow-up to
Paradise Lost will be titled
Iconoclast and will have its lyrics centered around "machines taking over everything and all this technology we put our society into pretty much being our demise."
[21] When asked about a release date, Allen said, "We are in post-production, so the album is pretty much almost done. At this point, mixes are being wrapped up and finalized and it's off to mastering and should be ready for release in a few months, definitely first quarter of 2011. We've got the artworks all done, we're taking pictures next week... all that good stuff. So everything's on track for release pretty soon. Allen also commented that "Sonically, it's in the realm of [
Paradise Lost] in a way, in terms of the sound of things; the guitar sound is a little different. Basically, the album is pretty intense, probably the most intense record we've ever done... "This album will contain a good body of work that harkens back to a lot of early metal, some early metal, and a lot of Symphony X standards that you guys know already, and a little bit of a newer sound too, here and there, just a newer direction."
[21]On February 25, 2011, Symphony X played the first show of their 2011 tour in
Stuttgart, Germany, where they performed two songs from
Iconoclast: "End of Innocence" and "Dehumanized." Some days later, in
Antwerp, Belgium, they performed yet another new song, "Heretic." During their show in London, England, the band debuted another new song titled "Prometheus."
On March 25, 2011, it was announced on the Nuclear Blast website and Blabbermouth.net that the new Symphony X album,
Iconoclast, would be released in Europe on June 17 and in North America on June 21,
[22] as a Standard Edition as well as a 2-CD Digipack.
Iconoclast debuted at number 76 on the
Billboard 200 album chart in the United States, selling more than 7,300 copies in its first week. The record also debuted at number 7 on the Top Hard Rock Chart, number 19 on the
Top Rock Chart and number 13 on the
Top Independent Chart.
[23][24] The album showcases the highest chart position and the most first-week sales in the band's history.
Diskografi:
1994 - Symphony X
1. Into the Dementia
2. The Raging Season
3. Premonition
4. Masquerade
5. Absinthe and Rue
6. Shades of Grey
7. Taunting the Notorious
8. Rapture or Pain
9. Thorns of Sorrow
10. A Lesson Before Dying
Download Symphony X1995 - The Damnation Game
1. The Damnation Game
2. Dressed to Kill
3. The Edge of Forever
4. Savage Curtain
5. Whispers
6. The Haunting
7. Secrets
8. A Winter's Dream - Prelude (Part I)
9. A Winter's Dream - The Ascension (Part II)
Download The Damnation Game
1997 - The Divine Wings of Tragedy
1. Of Sins and Shadows
2. Sea of Lies
3. Out of the Ashes
4. The Accolade
5. Pharaoh
6. The Eyes of Medusa
7. The Witching Hour
8. The Divine Wings of Tragedy
9. Candlelight Fantasia
Download The Divine Wings of Tragedy 1998 - Twilight In Olympus
1. Smoke and Mirrors
2. Church of the Machine
3. Sonata
4. In the Dragon's Den
5. Through the Looking Glass (Part I, II, III)
6. The Relic
7. Orion - the Hunter
8. Lady of the Snow
Download Twilight In Olympus 1999 - Prelude to the Millennium (Kompilasi) 1. Masquerade '98
2. A Winter's Dream - Prelude (Part I)
3. The Damnation Game
4. Dressed to Kill
5. Of Sins and Shadows
6. Sea of Lies
7. Out of the Ashes
8. The Divine Wings of Tragedy
9. Candlelight Fantasia
10. Smoke and Mirrors
11. Through the Looking Glass (Part I, II, III)
Download Prelude to the Millennium (Compilation) 2000 - V: The New Mythology Suite
1. Prelude
2. Evolution (The Grand Design)
3. Fallen
4. Transcendence
5. Communion and the Oracle
6. The Bird-Serpent War/Cataclysm
7. On the Breath of Poseidon
8. Egypt
9. Death of Balance/Lacrymosa
10. Absence of Light
11. A Fool's Paradise
12. Rediscovery
13. Rediscovery pt. II - The New Mythology
Download V: The New Mythology Suite 2001 - Live on the Edge of Forever
DISC 1
1. Prelude
2. Evolution (The Grand Design)
3. Fallen/Transcendence
4. Communion and the Oracle
5. The Bird-Serpent War/Cataclysm
6. On the Breath of Poseidon
7. Egypt
8. Death of Balance/Candlelight Fantasia
9. The Eyes of Medusa
Download Live on the Edge of Forever Disc 1DISC 2
1. Smoke and Mirrors
2. Church of the Machine
3. Through the Looking Glass
4. Of Sins and Shadows
5. Sea of Lies
6. The Divine Wings of Tragedy
Download Live on the Edge of Forever Disc2 2002 - The Odyssey
1. Inferno (Unleash The Fire)
2. Wicked
3. Incantations Of The Apprentice
4. Accolade II
5. King Of Terrors
6. The Turning
7. Awakenings
8. The Odyssey
part 1. Odysseus' Theme/ Overturepart 2. Journey To Ithacapart 3. The Eyepart 4. Circe (Daughter of the Sun)part 5. Sirenspart 6. Scylla and Charybdispart 7. The Fate of the Suitors/ Champion of Ithaca 9. Masquerade '98+
10. Frontiers++
Download The Odyssey 2007 - Paradise Lost
1. Oculus ex Inferni
2. Set the World on Fire (The Lie of Lies)
3. Domination
4. Serpent's Kiss
5. Paradise Lost
6. Eve of Seduction
7. The Walls of Babylon
8. Seven
9. The Sacrifice
10. Revelation (Divus Pennae ex Tragedia)
Download Paradise Lost Iconoclast - (2011)
Download Iconoclast - (2011)
