2015 Symphony X Album News

[iceandfire84]

Just saw Jax posted on twitter and FB that the press release was sent upstairs for green light and we should be hearing some major news as early as tomorrow. Time to start getting pumped I hope!

 

[Phanto]

Yeah I saw it too.

Sounds like it could be an album cover + release date and the whole shebang.

 

[UnholyCrusada]

Well, it's just confirmation that the CD is fully finished, and the fan-club is making a comeback. No artwork, no release date, no samples, etc.

Not much of a big to-do, but hey, at least it's done.

 

[Drahcir]

So now we're anticipating the true anticipation of the release.

 

[Phanto]

same mixing & mastering as the last 2 albums. hopefully not 100% the same song writing.

 

[EyeballKid]

same mixing & mastering as the last 2 albums. hopefully not 100% the same song writing.

Mixing I am 100% fine with, as I think the mixes on the last two albums were decent. Pinella was too quite on Iconoclast, but he also wasn't playing very much other than sound effects.

Mastering, however, holy shit no...I literally cannot listen to Iconoclast or Paradise Lost all the way through without taking a break. The brickwalled sound is fucking horrendous.

 

[Phanto]

how can you be fine with mixing and not mastering

 

[Wander]

Realistically the brickwalled lack of dynamics can originate from the mixing, and the person mastering, if different, might not have anything do with it. In the end the album's producer (Michael Romeo) is responsible for the end result.

 

[Indestructible]

I sure hope the new album will be less LOUD and offer some more diversity in the songs compared to Iconoclast which like the nice guy above me said is the kind of album that you just cant listen to without taking a break here and there. Production-wise, its always Romeo involved and therefore we would have to hope he is going to take a different direction this time, because although the production on the last two was good, it was kind of too loud/exaggerated. At times I felt I was listening to just another one out of the 10000 metal records out there that offer nothing but loudness and an aggressive direction. Do you guys also start to feel that Sym X is moving away from their prog metal roots, even if just a tiny bit? I dont know about you, but I sure started to feel it eespecially when I listened to Iconoclast. I mean that album is really hard to digest just because of the loudness. Its like a blessing and a curse - you hear everything clearly and smoothly but it is just too strong for your ears. But now that this new album is coming out in the near future, I dont lose my hopes anymore, but I sure would start to lose interest in being a Sym X fan if all the new album would have to offer is just more of the loud bullshit in Iconoclast. I could stand Paradise Lost, but Iconoclast is just wow...At first I thought I loved it, but then the overproduced sound got to me, it just wasnt that good anymore. I want to see them going back to their roots - because their sound has only worsened from PL and beyond. Odyssey was tolerable still. So if they were to make things less loud this time, and take influence from, say; albums like TDWOT and V, then I'm confident that what we are going to hear on this new album is just the Sym X band we all want to love and appreciate just like in the 90's-early 2000's. Ahh, I really hope it will end up in this way.

 

[Kenneth R.]

Realistically the brickwalled lack of dynamics can originate from the mixing, and the person mastering, if different, might not have anything do with it. In the end the album's producer (Michael Romeo) is responsible for the end result.

This. I don't see any reason to expect a difference.

 

[Indestructible]

This. I don't see any reason to expect a difference.

Yeah me too. I mean, it is what I want, what we all want is a difference, but we all know Romeo very well and how his brain and composing processes work. Its not like we literally sit in front of him all day and watch how he composes/produces his music, but being veteran Sym X fans(myself included), nobody needs to be a genius to see the lack of diversity going on in recent years. I mean, it even comes to live shows - setlists all consist of the same shit(sorry, I know calling Sym X's music shit is a very hard thing to do as a big fan, but, I just had to). What needs to be done is obvious, and the musical direction that needs to be taken with the new album is also obvious. Let's wait and see. Let's give Romeo another chance to prove that he can come up with something interesting this time around.

 

[iceandfire84]

Funny, I much more feel like the "wall of sound" vibe is more present in PL. I've listened to Iconoclast a pretty large number of times all the way through and enjoyed it. PL I find myself wishing I could get to the better tracks on the album quicker (PL, Babylon, Revelation).

Sure, I would prefer more of a return to the old sound but the new one suits me just fine as well if they keep putting albums out in that vein. Plenty of other awesome prog music to listen to if they're doing something different. Still a slight shame as their brand of prog can be so much better than the rest when they go for it.

 

[chriscc]

To be released on July 24th.

Here is the cover:

01. Overture
02. Nevermore
03. Underworld
04. Without You
05. Kiss Of Fire
06. Charon
07. Hell And Back
08. In My Darkest Hour
09. Run With The Devil
10. Swansong
11. Legend

Announcement

 

[iceandfire84]

Digging what Romeo had to say about the album so far. Sounds like it should be an enjoyable listening experience. Looking forward to it!

Oh and for those keeping count, just the track listing alone bring the "fire" tally to 1!

 

[Durakonis]

The cover art is quite dark (and awesome for my liking), but cannot be sure if the music is also gonna be dark as most of the track names can fit both to dark metal songs, and to heavy-progressive stuff. I value what Romeo says, so it seems like it will be, if not conceptual, a coherent album. The seeds of excitement have been sown!!!

 

[Liampie]

I'm relatively optimistic. No 'Lord of Chaos', 'Bastards of the Machine' or 'Children of a Faceless God' Rhapsody of Fire bullshit. Cover is alright. Romeo sounds alright. Looking forward to this one! And to seeing the track lenghts! 11 songs is quite a lot. Fingers crossed for a long song, but I doubt it. No problem, but it would be very nice.

 

[Adam Fiske]

According to last.fm we've got some tracklengths:

01. Overture - 4:14
02. Nevermore - 5:30
03. Underworld - 5:48
04. Without You - 5:51
05. Kiss Of Fire - 5:09
06. Charon - 6:06
07. Hell And Back - 9:23
08. In My Darkest Hour - 4:22
09. Run With The Devil - 5:38
10. Swansong - 7:29
11. Legend - 6:29

Which brings us to a total of: 65:59 which I'm sure is off by 1 second and the actual running time is, of course, 66 minutes.

 

[AsoTamaki]

I definitely would've preferred if they went with a theme that they hadn't already explored multiple times, but oh well. Romeo's comments make it sound like the album has a lot more dynamics than the previous one so I'm happy about that at least. The titles of the last two tracks excite me for some reason.

 

[donKyle]

eh, "without you" made me chuckle a little bit, because you know it's gonna be some cheesy ballad lol.

 

[iceandfire84]

eh, "without you" made me chuckle a little bit, because you know it's gonna be some cheesy ballad lol.

Cheesy ballads and heavy metal seem to have gone hand in hand for decades. Just part of the total package. I'm sure it will be as you say