Symphony X -Iconoclast

I love the new album, easily the best of the year so far for me. I would have preferred slightly more variety from song to song and maybe slightly less of Russel Allen's harsh vocals, but I can't really fault the album for that since I enjoy every song and it has some of their best.

Even if you're not a fan of their heavier side everyone should listen to When All Is Lost. One of the best Symphony X songs there has ever been in my opinion.
 
Same chord structure, same runs..... Ehh....... There is no doubt the musicianship is excellent and Russell Allen can sing... But, I can guess where the song is going every time. It's so predictable and boring. The same guitar riffs over and over. I would give it 3 of 5 stars.
 
It's a decent album, but that's it.
To me, there are four excellent songs on the album: 'Iconoclast' (although the chorus is way too monotonous), 'The End of Innocense', 'When all is lost' and 'Reign in Madness'.
The lack of good choruses in 'Dehumanized', 'Bastards of the Machine' and 'Heretic' is very disappointing - (some of) the verses are ok-ish but the choruses are way too simple and dull.
The rest of the songs are decent with nice parts but they are sometimes way too exchangeable.

I have no problem at all with Russel singing in a more harsh voice/style (what a voice he has!), but I do mind the lack of more great songs! Maybe I expected a bit too much.
 
Funny thing is, my expectations were way too high after Odyssey, so Paradise Lost hit a very bad note with me. But (I'm not sure if this is a good thing), I expected a Nu-metal X album afterwords and got this monster instead! :kickass:

Still one has to wonder (or fantasize) what this and PL would sound like if Thomas Miller hadn't left. :D