Iconoclast album samples on Itunes

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

And honestly, I don't get the complaints about the vocals from what I have heard. Sometimes they are a bit aggressive but Russ is certainly still singing (and quite well) in contrary to what some people seem to think for whatever reason. Russ has used gruff vocals in parts of songs since the early days, and its nothing new now.

I'm not complaining, but on the last few albums the vocals are clearly more consistently "rough" than they were on V and the albums that preceded it. A few songs from The Odyssey and almost every song on Paradise Lost featured Russ singing in a more aggressive style than before, and according to Russ himself, he likes it. I do, too, although I thought Paradise Lost went a bit too overboard with it.

The people who whine and gripe about the vocal style since Paradise Lost seem to be those who want Symphony X to release an entire album of Communion and the Oracles or Accolades. And while I too greatly prefer the band's epic, more melodic stuff to their heavier metal stuff (although their metal stuff is still better than any band out there), songs like those above wouldn't have the impact they do if every song was just like them. We say we would want it, but think about it - an entire album of Candlelight Fantasias would get pretty boring due to it being so one-dimensional.

You're right about Russ using rougher vocals in earlier works, too. Songs like Of Sins and Shadows, Eyes of Medusa, King of Terrors, and that middle part in Egypt come to mind. But as I stated above, it certainly wasn't as prevalent in the music as it is now. If the Iconoclast samples are any indication, this record will be even more aggressive vocally than Paradise Lost; I mean just listen to the verses in Dehumanized and Prometheus, or parts of Heretic. I'm not complaining, although on a similar note I do hope that the band doesn't ignore their older material for future live shows and instead lays off the Paradise Lost stuff.

 

[manticore999]

It's not gonna be like V you idiot. V was made 12 years ago. And V was concept about Atlantis and the rediscovery of today's technology.
That fits MACHINES even more than you think conceptually. We are further more advanced and reality is beyond what we thought in 1999.
The music is just more and more badass and meaninful,

Go buy a fucking cookie cutter.

And I didn't say I wanted it to sound like V you dickless wonder. If your reading skills were beyond a 2nd grader you would have seen that I was replying to a comment about V fans being happy with this album. What are you, like 12 years old or something?

 

[Xtopher]

Im still not convinced. It´s not what i was expecting of the album, but then again they are only 1 minute samples, Nuclear Blast might have chosen the parts that fit more with their style and what they want to portray to every new guy that listens to SX for the first time. But we know better, SX´s songs vary plenty of times within a single track so we might only be getting the rougher parts.

 

[handmadeguitars87]

And I didn't say I wanted it to sound like V you dickless wonder. If your reading skills were beyond a 2nd grader you would have seen that I was replying to a comment about V fans being happy with this album. What are you, like 12 years old or something?

His response was uncalled for, and I certainly see how you were responding to the comment (considering you quoted it, lol). It's just that when someone writes "as a fan of V" and follows it up with "this sounds nothing like V" followed by a statement of not being into it, people may draw connections. I understand your point, although i don't agree.

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

no album is worth perusing the apple website

I know, right? Haven't you seen that South Park episode?!

And I didn't say I wanted it to sound like V you dickless wonder. If your reading skills were beyond a 2nd grader you would have seen that I was replying to a comment about V fans being happy with this album. What are you, like 12 years old or something?

at "dickless wonder."

 

[Ryan M.]

at "dickless wonder."

Bwahahahahaha!

 

[Marwen]

V was made 12 years ago

Yes. The year you were born, apparently.

 

[Savage79]

This record can't be out soon enough! From what I've heard so far (clips and the two full songs) they've once again delivered something that will regularly visit my cd player right from the moment I get it.

Russell sings very much like he did in Paradise Lost but it doesn't bother me (some say he sounds too heavy, am I correct?). I like his style now and I liked his style back in V and before. He is an incredible singer no matter how he sings. The overall sound of this record is much better than PL and all the instruments are better represented. Drum sounds are better and at least according to those clips the guitar doesn't overshadow everything.

This is going to be fantastic...

 

[Ryan M.]

Yes. The year you were born, apparently.

Bwahahaha! uhuh. LOL. Now I guess his new nickname shall be "Dickless Wonder". Just great huh?

 

[JPX]

I just really think that making rash judgments about this album at this point is far too premature. Anyone who really listens to Symphony X should know that a great deal of their material really takes several listens to sink in and "get" whats going on. For example, when I first started listening to the band which was right after V came out, I didn't even like a lot of the songs on that album very much. I didn't hate them, but I preferred the more accessible stuff like Sins and Shadows or Smoke and Mirrors. Songs like Egypt and Looking Glass took me a while to really appreciate. Now my favorite album is V and my favorite song is Rediscovery. You really need to let Symphony X sink in for a while. So... judging the new album from a few 30 second samples or whatever when most of the songs are 6-10 minutes long is pretty ridiculous in the first place, and the fact that you need to hear the whole thing to really appreciate it as a whole is the other key point. And honestly, I don't get the complaints about the vocals from what I have heard. Sometimes they are a bit aggressive but Russ is certainly still singing (and quite well) in contrary to what some people seem to think for whatever reason. Russ has used gruff vocals in parts of songs since the early days, and its nothing new now.

Agreed but there's a total of 18 minutes of music on iTunes so it's a fair sampling on what we can expect even though there will be much more to discover.

To me I know there will be a bunch of cool stuff to look forward to with this record but it does seem to be quite one dimensional - sonically speaking - from those 18 minutes.

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

I think I've figured out one of the main reasons pre-Paradise Lost Symphony X sounds so much different than the latest stuff - far less piano. Not keyboards in general, but specifically piano. Paradise Lost barely had any, save for a few tracks, and based on the Iconoclast samples I'm not expecting much on this new album, either. Hell, P plays a piano-ish part in Dehumanized live that (to my ears) isn't even audible in the studio version! When I think of Symphony X, I think of sweet piano or piano-like lines over cool riffs, and they've been slacking off in that department lately.

This doesn't mean that the music has to be light and fluffy just because it has a piano over it - that's what used to set Symphony X apart from other bands in my mind. Songs like Church of the Machine, Egypt, Fallen, and King of Terrors are fine examples of this. It adds another sonic layer to the music and makes it multi-dimensional, as opposed to "just another metal band" with the guitars turned up to 11 churning out riff after riff with no melodic backdrop.

 

[Kenneth R.]

it does seem to be quite one dimensional - sonically speaking - from those 18 minutes.

That doesn't bode well for my tastes.

 

[donKyle]

These arguments are quite entertaining

 

[Isaac_de_Moorea]

I think I've figured out one of the main reasons pre-Paradise Lost Symphony X sounds so much different than the latest stuff - far less piano. Not keyboards in general, but specifically piano. Paradise Lost barely had any, save for a few tracks, and based on the Iconoclast samples I'm not expecting much on this new album, either. Hell, P plays a piano-ish part in Dehumanized live that (to my ears) isn't even audible in the studio version! When I think of Symphony X, I think of sweet piano or piano-like lines over cool riffs, and they've been slacking off in that department lately.

I agree with you. What I truly love from past recordings of Symphony X is that not only were more complex and melodic keyboard lines, but also has a wider variety of "instruments" or "sounds" being used (harpsichord, church and "jazz" organ, violin, piano and piano-like pads, the shakukachi of "Egypt", the koto of "Lady of the Snow", etc.).

Those sounds, being well used, also have its role on those "sonic layers" you were talking about. They also can define an "individuality" on each song, which IMO separates masterpieces (V!!! ) from good albums. I like PL, (especially "Revelation", which in my opinion has an incredible chorus) but I think it was too limitated with the keyboard, which consist mostly in strings, piano and synth.

Also, I realized that hearing the samples of this new album gives me not a clear idea of the individuality of the songs (some of them sound preety similar), maybe because that just for "Iconoclast" we have being presented with an instrumental section, a very promising one.

Looking foward to this album, It´s getting closer the release date!

 

[PrgrsveMetalnChains]

I'm most likely in a minority here but I'm sensing this album to be similar to V in certain aspects. Maybe its just the keys turned up WAY more than in PL but I have hope that it gets close.

p.s. - Just listened to the Heretic sample again; I hate the chorus right now but I hope it grows on me as the Serpent's Kiss track did. Just seems so generic sounding and dull.

 

[LittleTortillaBoy]

p.s. - Just listened to the Heretic sample again; I hate the chorus right now but I hope it grows on me as the Serpent's Kiss track did. Just seems so generic sounding and dull.

Same here. That's the only song which I hardly dig for now... Chorus reminded me of DT's efforts to sound like Metallica, which is uke:
But,as you, I hope it will grow on me...

 

[blackstar1971]

I'll have to check these out!!

 

[Adam Fiske]

Heretic was awesome on the Metal Messiah show. Though the chorus was definitely the weakest part.

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

Same here. That's the only song which I hardly dig for now... Chorus reminded me of DT's efforts to sound like Metallica, which is uke:
But,as you, I hope it will grow on me...

Yep, there's definitely a Metallica vibe in Heretic's chorus, but it's far better than DT's attempts to sound like Metallica in my opinion. At least Russ can pull off the more aggressive vocal style.

The chorus is growing on me, though. I really like those couple of crazy heavy double bass runs that Jason does. The verse has a nice melody, too, particularly the "parasites" line.

 

[handmadeguitars87]

Yep, there's definitely a Metallica vibe in Heretic's chorus, but it's far better than DT's attempts to sound like Metallica in my opinion. At least Russ can pull off the more aggressive vocal style.

The chorus is growing on me, though. I really like those couple of crazy heavy double bass runs that Jason does. The verse has a nice melody, too, particularly the "parasites" line.

I must say I'm not too thrilled about the Metallica-ness of that part in the song...but I will say that if Hetfield sounded anywhere close to how Russell sounds, it'd be enough to get me to consider Metallica a good band again.