In this case, the three main offenders are the blistering Domination, The Serpent's Kiss, and the epic closer, Revelation (Divus Pennae ex Tragoedia). Perhaps most importantly, a few of the albums tracks are not up to the band's usual standards. Paradise Lost is not perfect however, as there a few points which drag it down a few points. The eighth song, Seven, is another track of this ilk, opening up with a fast, technical riff from Michael Romeo before morphing into a fairly enjoyable power/prog piece.
Eve of Seduction is perhaps the best example of this, featuring several fast-paced, melodic harmonies, solos, and riffs, as well as frontman Russell Allen's best performance off the album. However, where Paradise Lost impresses the most is on some of the lighter, more neo-classical tracks. Particularly on a song such as Set the World on Fire (The Lie of Lies), where Michael's rhythm is the glue which holds the track together. In addition to his lead work, Romeo steps up his rhythm work as well. But where does this new found heaviness come from? Throughout Paradise Lost the centrepiece of the experience is the band's lone guitarist, Michael Romeo. Luckily, for the most part Symphony X does not really fall into this trap, with a good portion of their hour long album sounding inspired and interesting. But just like bands such as Machine Head and Pantera show through their music, heaviness for the sake of being heavy never really works out well. If one element had ever been more stressed on the band's seventh album, it would be the aggression and pure heaviness which it displays.
Though the songs are a lot heavier and darker than they've ever been, they still retain the mystical atmosphere which has always been a staple in their sound. We can never have it the easy way, can we? Anyways, Symphony X's has earned rather large expectations over the years, and though their seventh album, Paradise Lost doesn't quite eclipse the standards set by some of the band's past endeavours, it is still a very interesting album.Įssentially, Paradise Lost does not introduce changes to Symphony X's tried, tested, and true formula. Of course, due to the fact that Symphony X is one of the sub-genre's premier acts, it only seems logical that they delay their next and seventh studio album over five years before its release.
They've always been able to balance the whole prog metal act much better than some of their contemporaries, never sounding too technical and progressive or too contrived, for the most part. Their 2000 offering, V: The New Mythology Suite is one of my favourite progressive metal albums, and both The Odyssey and Twilight in Olympus are not far behind. Ever since I'd first heard Symphony X about a year ago, they've almost always managed to impress me.
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