Symphony X - Underworld

[heavyharmonies]

If there is an earlier thread posting about this, I missed it. Very pleasant surprise.

 

Much less metal than I expected, and much more melodic rock. The instrumental components are still very much prog metal, but vocals, especially on the choruses are melodic.

 

 

 

 

One of the heavier cuts:

 

 

 

And some prog:

 

[kourosofsteel3]

Very good stuff, although now with the return of Watchtower everything that's prog and between will pale in comparison, definitely I could see a song like "Without You" or "Swan Song" replacing "Candlelight Fantasia" in their ultimate masterpiece "The Diving Wings of Tragedy".

[Monzter]

Every song is a masterpiece, one of the best albums ever made. This album took this band to a new level and they were already on a very high level. Any song would be a highlight on any album ever released. It is that good.

[Chisel Chin]

Symphony X in the "AOR and Hard Rock" section, lol.

[heavyharmonies]

Symphony X in the "AOR and Hard Rock" section, lol.

Have you listened to the album? It is far more melodic rock/prog rock than any kind of metal. Forget previous efforts.

[Chisel Chin]

Yes, I'm a big fan... but it's still not the right style for this section of the forum.

 

It's still Metal, even if it's melodic, and not too dissimilar to a lot of the other melodic (power) metal in the Heavy Metal section. I certainly wouldn't lump them in with the sort of bands in AOR and Hard Rock.

[kourosofsteel3]

Yeah, it's just more accessible stuff, actually way more accessible than their previous efforts (I'm not counting obviously the Nuclear Blast years) and only future could tell if they release their "Inside Out" or "Empire" (hopefully not this one ).

 

Btw, I never considered Symphony X hardcore Prog Metal, mostly neoclassical heavy with prog tempo/rhythm changes/arrangements/orchestrations/ lengthy compositions in their first masterpieces, which was what made me a fan of them (still remember getting Romeo's first demotape, under his name, directly from him).

 

Actually, this year everything labelled as "prog metal" was in this way, accessible heavy/power metal with a sort of aor/hard rock choruses. I've read that Gronholm were labeled samewise, I've listened to it and I couldn't believe my ears. Blatant, boring aorish/heavy metal disguised as prog metal.

 

And sadly my beloved Cynic lately went way too jazzy for my tastes...leaving the field open for the return of the undisputed Pr0gM@5ter5 Watchtower...

[Dead Planet]

I don't own anything by these guys mainly because I've always considered them 100% prog but I like what i hear in those songs rather than Royal Hunt etc they are sounding more like Evergrey and that is a good thing so I will probably pick this up....and IMO although they definitely straddle the line between hard rock and metal...I would probably put them in the metal section.....