And the new album title is.....

Kazar

SW-moderator
May 14, 2007
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"ICONOCLAST"

Here's a little more:
"During a brand new interview with DJ JC Green of Metal Messiah Radio's "Heavy Metal Thunder" show, vocalist Russell Allen of New Jersey's progressive metal masters SYMPHONY X revealed that the band has set "Iconoclast" as the title of its eighth album, due later this year via Nuclear Blast Records.

When asked what stage of the recording/mixing process the new CD is in, Allen replied, "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."

Regarding the sound of "Iconoclast" and how it compares to that of 2007's "Paradise Lost", Russell said, "Sonically, it's in the realm of that one 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; it's chock-full of riffs — tons of great riffs. It's heavy, the music, but the singing is very melodic in terms of its... the choruses are real strong, the verses are real strong, but I'm singing aggressively — a lot of that going on — 'cause the topic is, again, very dark; you know, that's what we do. So the album's very powerful. And, of course, we do have one song that's like a little mini-epic, so to speak, and it's the lightest — a light, light, light song. So there is a contrast on the record of that one song that has that sort of 'Paradise Lost' feel to it; it's a ballad, I guess, if you wanna call it that."

He continued, "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. Some of the singing parts, I tried some more rhythmic things that I was hearing that sounded pretty cool, and some different things that I'm doing with my voice now that are a little more looking to the future of what we hear the music going. It's just the next progression for us, where we are as writers and stuff, but it's pretty intense — it's way more intense than 'Paradise Lost', if you can believe that."

When asked about the "Iconoclast" lyrical concept, Russell said, "It is basically just the idea of machines taking over everything and all this technology we put our society into pretty much being our demise. It's a story we were all familiar with, but we put our own spin on it. It's not a linear story in terms of... This is just the theme of the record, so all the songs are in that theme, but they're not connected in any sort of story way — there's no characters of any of that stuff — it's just a theme. Like [PINK FLOYD's] 'The Dark Side Of The Moon', it's really just a theme of the dark side of the moon — one song deals with death, the other one deals with time... You know what I mean?! So it's the same kind of thing. I'm not comparing the two albums by any means — don't misunderstand me — but in terms of the idea of a concept, so to speak, the concept is there, but it's not a story record — not like [2002's] 'The Odyssey', where the song 'The Odyssey' is that story."

The entire interview will air on "Heavy Metal Thunder" in the next couple of weeks.

SYMPHONY X will embark on a North American headlining tour in April/May. Support on the trek will come from Seattle's NEVERMORE, Sweden's SOILWORK, Boston's POWERGLOVE and Montreal's BLACKGUARD. The trek will launch on April 21 in Philadelphia and wrap on May 22 in West Springfield, Virginia.

SYMPHONY X's last album, 2007's "Paradise Lost", has sold over 60,000 copies in North America.

Formed in 1994 in New Jersey, SYMPHONY X has seven studio albums and one live album to its credit".
 
i·con·o·clast
   /aɪˈkɒnəˌklæst/ Show Spelled[ahy-kon-uh-klast] Show IPA
–noun
1.
a breaker or destroyer of images, esp. those set up for religious veneration.
2.
a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being based on error or superstition.

Well I don't know. It sounds like I expected, and not what I hoped for. Let's hope they turn the keys up.

Also, it's good to see SX finally headlining over lesser bands like nevermore and soilwork.
 
sounds like he said a whole lot of nothing about the album in that interview. very standard approach. and ironic that this "news" didn't come from the official sources, which seem to be lackadaisical as of late.
 

When asked about the "Iconoclast" lyrical concept, Russell said, "It is basically just the idea of machines taking over everything and all this technology we put our society into pretty much being our demise.
It's a story we were all familiar with, but we put our own spin on it. It's not a linear story in terms of... This is just the theme of the record, so all the songs are in that theme, but they're not connected in any sort of story way — there's no characters of any of that stuff — it's just a theme. Like [PINK FLOYD's] 'The Dark Side Of The Moon', it's really just a theme of the dark side of the moon — one song deals with death, the other one deals with time... You know what I mean?! So it's the same kind of thing. I'm not comparing the two albums by any means — don't misunderstand me — but in terms of the idea of a concept, so to speak, the concept is there, but it's not a story record — not like [2002's] 'The Odyssey', where the song 'The Odyssey' is that story."
Well now we know why they haven't had lots of updates!
 
Like the name, concept seems hokey but that's fine, a little disappointed that there's only going to be one epic and it's going to be a ballad...if it's as good as "Awakenings" I'll take the album for that one track alone and call it a success. New vocal techniques sounds cool, other comment about new direction conjures up horrible images of Nuclear Blast shitty power metal and melodeath bands.
 
the guitar sound is a little different. [than PL's]

Good.

When asked about the "Iconoclast" lyrical concept, Russell said, "It is basically just the idea of machines taking over everything and all this technology we put our society into pretty much being our demise.

Not a bad theme.

Some of the singing parts, I tried some more rhythmic things that I was hearing that sounded pretty cool, and some different things that I'm doing with my voice now that are a little more looking to the future of what we hear the music going.

first thought after reading this: rap metal

the album is pretty intense — probably the most intense record we've ever done; it's chock-full of riffs — tons of great riffs. It's heavy

:erk:
 
Boooo :yell: :bah:

Another King Diamond album??

wtf.. paradise lost was the worst album I have heard by any metal band in years. Well I can't demand too much from a band that has already put out good music.. it's just sad. I honestly hope that iconoclast will be different than paradise lost but I doubt it. I cant stand Russel's aggressive singing.

But maybe it's all they can do. I mean they have already released such good material I have no right to ask for more. Perhaps this is their natural progression.

I guess I can always listen to Candle Light Fantasia and cry my eyes out. I'm sorry but I feel terrible now.

Russel makes it sound like he's trying to conform or something with his voice. I do really like what he's done with Avantasia and Allen Lande recently. It's just that that is totally different than Paradise Lost.
 
Boooo :yell: :bah:

Another King Diamond album??

wtf.. paradise lost was the worst album I have heard by any metal band in years. Well I can't demand too much from a band that has already put out good music.. it's just sad. I honestly hope that iconoclast will be different than paradise lost but I doubt it. I cant stand Russel's aggressive singing.

But maybe it's all they can do. I mean they have already released such good material I have no right to ask for more. Perhaps this is their natural progression.

I guess I can always listen to Candle Light Fantasia and cry my eyes out. I'm sorry but I feel terrible now.

Russel makes it sound like he's trying to conform or something with his voice. I do really like what he's done with Avantasia and Allen Lande recently. It's just that that is totally different than Paradise Lost.

What were you talking about with King Diamond?? Don't insult my master! :devil: I will make him my avatar for revenge...

Anyway, these guys are just probably sick of playing progressive for over 15 years and they don't want to end the band and start over so they just change the style dramatically and hope for the best.