Albums currently kicking your ass

[Baroque]

Interestingly enough, none of those things automatically make something more interesting. I think it's obvious that they play their instruments well, but that's not all that goes into making music that everyone will enjoy. A lot of their stuff isn't that interesting, like that ridiculously long song from one of the mixtapes.

Have you studied classical music at all?

If you have studied classical music, and like metal, it's kind of a no-brainer to enjoy their style of music. If you can't appreciate classical i can see why you wouldn't like it.

I never said everyone should enjoy it. Just that it's more interesting. That's an opinion btw, I think their music is more interesting than most of trad metal.

 

[Elric of Melniboné]

My wife and I have both studied classical music and taken music lessons and she was a professional musician and music teacher years ago. Both of us enjoy a lot of metal bands, but neither of us enjoy pale imitations of classical music as represented by bands like Symphony X.

There definitely is no objective way that you can say someone should like both. It might be your opinion, but it ends there.

 

[Baroque]

My wife and I have both studied classical music and taken music lessons and she was a professional musician and music teacher years ago. Both of us enjoy a lot of metal bands, but neither of us enjoy pale imitations of classical music as represented by bands like Symphony X.

There definitely is no objective way that you can say someone should like both. It might be your opinion, but it ends there.

I think you haven't heard enough of them. Pale imitations? They quote composers like Mozart directly:

(start at 2:20)


This could easily be part of a film score:


This too:

 

[Elric of Melniboné]

I'll listen to them soon, probably tomorrow, but the idea of them directly quoting Mozart isn't really that impressive.

 

[Baroque]

I'll listen to them soon, probably tomorrow, but the idea of them directly quoting Mozart isn't really that impressive.

It's not impressive in itself, i'm saying "how can it all be a pale imitation if some of it is the real thing?"

 

[Elric of Melniboné]

I'm not even going to bother because it's obvious that you want to argue. I'll still listen to the songs tomorrow, but you are pretty obnoxious.

 

[Talos of Atmora]

Interestingly enough, none of those things automatically make something more interesting. I think it's obvious that they play their instruments well, but that's not all that goes into making music that everyone will enjoy. A lot of their stuff isn't that interesting, like that ridiculously long song from one of the mixtapes.

Jesus tapdancing Christ, man, I already apologized for this. It was my first submission and in my defense, it DID fit the theme.

 

[Vilden]

Autumn and darker times craves darker music. So it is this on repeat as usual this time of the year:

Dreaming of cyclopean vistas, white marbeled cities and entites beyond my scope of imagination.

 

[Baroque]

 

[Slayed Necros]

 

[Vegard Pompey]

@Baroque What I find weird about the Symphony X I've heard (DWoT, The Odyssey and random songs from other albums) is that their classical elements seem more instrumental than compositional; that is to say they'll include lots of overt references to classical like orchestrated bits, neoclassical guitarwork and direct classical quotes like the one in the first song you linked but compositionally their songs range from conventionally structured shorter songs to long epics made up of a series of wanky bits. I'm sure you listen to a lot more classical than me but I listen to some and I've never heard an acclaimed symphony that sounded as disjointed as the title track on Divine Wings for instance, and I don't think listening to/studying more classical music would somehow make it make sense. I echo what no country said in his 'gods' mixtape review; I don't understand why metalheads who are into classical latch onto stuff like Symphony X instead of The Chasm. That said I really don't hate the band; they have a great sound when they go easy on the neoclassical noodling and I quite like some of their more economical songs like "Out of the Ashes".

 

[Elric of Melniboné]

I think you haven't heard enough of them. Pale imitations? They quote composers like Mozart directly:

(start at 2:20)


This could easily be part of a film score:


This too:

Now that I've listened to these, I can definitely say that I'm not interested in these sorts of songs. I like the beginning of the first track but I lost interest in it really fast. The other two songs sound like bad film soundtracks that would be at home in some modern film like the Underworld series, which is funny to me since one of the albums has the same title.

As I said before, the level of musicianship is obviously adequate but the songs don't grab my attention. I'd have to agree with @Vegard Pompey that they tend to create disjointed compositions.

I would be interested in hearing more concise, metal-oriented songs by this band if you want to link some of those.

 

[Baroque]

Now that I've listened to these, I can definitely say that I'm not interested in these sorts of songs. I like the beginning of the first track but I lost interest in it really fast. The other two songs sound like bad film soundtracks that would be at home in some modern film like the Underworld series, which is funny to me since one of the albums has the same title.

As I said before, the level of musicianship is obviously adequate but the songs don't grab my attention. I'd have to agree with @Vegard Pompey that they tend to create disjointed compositions.

To each his own. Being a prog metal listener for 21 years they do not sound disjointed at all. I seek out bands far more disjointed than them. I enjoy the challenge of trying to understand and enjoy a disjointed composition.

As for this,

I would be interested in hearing more concise, metal-oriented songs by this band if you want to link some of those.

Concise is not really the word I would use to describe their best material, but this is the track most people start with



I like this one recently



It's kind of a band you either 'get' or you don't. It's fine if you don't. To say they're not interesting though, I dunno about that. There's a lot going on here, it's certainly interesting even if you don't enjoy it.

Not concise, but great (one of their best prog metal songs imo) with classical elements often throughout

 

[Talos of Atmora]

If you want concise tracks from SX, I would also recommend Of Sins and Shadows, In the Dragon's Den, Fallen, Egypt, Sea of Lies, Smoke and Mirrors, etc. Quite a lot of good stuff that isn't very lengthy.

 

[Baroque]

If you want concise tracks from SX, I would also recommend Of Sins and Shadows, In the Dragon's Den, Fallen, Egypt, Sea of Lies, Smoke and Mirrors, etc. Quite a lot of good stuff that isn't very lengthy.

Seconding these.

Also Elric do you enjoy listening to Queen?

 

[Vegard Pompey]

I enjoy the challenge of trying to understand and enjoy a disjointed composition.

I enjoy the challenge of trying to understand and enjoy Limp Bizkit.

 

[Elric of Melniboné]

Seconding these.

Also Elric do you enjoy listening to Queen?

I rate Queen fairly high among rock bands and I own most of their albums on vinyl and CD. I got tons of old heavy metal and rock music from my dad when he passed away.

 

[Baroque]

I enjoy the challenge of trying to understand and enjoy Limp Bizkit.

Right, totally the same thing bro. That quote is not out of context at all

 

[no country for old wainds]

to me 'disjointed' implies something inherently nonsensical rather than merely complex or hard to immediately grasp or w/e. sounds like you don't mean you like disjointed compositions so much as that you don't find said compositions disjointed because you're not a simple-minded trad metal barbarian like the rest of us wastrels, which may or may not be fair enough. personally i often love complex music so long as it has some kind of structure that makes sense to me, but if i perceive it as just being randomly glued together or w/e then it just comes across as anti-artistic to me, meaningless in other words. i get the latter feeling from supposedly complex metal a lot more often than i do from, say, the classical canon.

 

[Elric of Melniboné]

I listened to the second batch of Symphony X songs. They at least sound like metal and not lame soundtracks. While I can see the musicianship on display, the compositions unfortunately do little to endear themselves to me. The production also makes them sound sterile and lifeless.

I did want to specifically say that this is extremely pretentious to even say, for obvious reasons:

To say they're not interesting though, I dunno about that. There's a lot going on here, it's certainly interesting even if you don't enjoy it.

I'm done discussing this band though. This is kicking my ass currently: