The best bass part in the Odyssey was that part in The Accolade II where he did that little run right before the vocals came in. Another good part was in Awakenings.
Yeah, those parts are awesome. His playing in Awakenings in general is really cool. When the heaviness kicks in after the first quiet piano verse, he's playing some fills in there that the guitar is not. Although it's highly muffled, I still think it's cool that he's not just blindly doubling Romeo.
All in all, I prefer the bass playing in Symphony X's longer, more epic songs to the bass in the short and heavy ones. It has a lot to do with what you talk about in the next paragraph (bass and guitar playing the same thing).
You notice that in the days of Thomas Miller, the bass part was very distinguished melodically and tonally. Now it's like the bass is playing exactly what the rhythm guitar is playing and it gets drowned out most of the time. The bass lines aren't creative enough, apart from things that sound like the bass solo from Seven. But that's a solo, not while playing with the rest of the band.
I agree... but I don't think that's Lepond's fault. There were tons of cool bass moments on V, but ever since The Odyssey the band has really become more guitar-oriented than anything else. Keyboards have been drastically cut back (save for the more epic songs) too, and I continue to wonder if that was Pinnella's decision or if the entire band wanted it that way. There's seriously only FOUR keyboard solos on Paradise Lost (two are in Walls of Babylon), and compared to the older albums, The Odyssey cut back on them, too.
But anyway, listen to the more epic and melodic songs that the band has done since they've had Lepond. This is where it seems his bass playing shines the most (throughout the entire songs), probably because it can heard easier when it's played under a clean guitar as opposed to a distorted one. Communion and the Oracle, Egypt, Rediscovery pt. II, Accolade II, Awakenings, The Odyssey, Paradise Lost, The Sacrifice, and Revelation all have some awesome rhythmic bass parts.
I should also mention how Lepond really spiced up the older material on disc two of the live album. Sure, Miller may have written the bass to Through the Looking Glass, The Divine Wings of Tragedy, Church of the Machine, etc, but Lepond really went the extra mile with his sweet silky tone and wicked improvisational skills.
