Symphony X's future

[Matt]

Why stay locked in the neo-classical closet when you can make more money with a slight change to your songs? Overall, I dig it. But, I can't say I'm as sticky a listener as others...

Symphony X will not make a huge amount of money regardless of what they do because they don't tour often enough. That argument is invalid.

my 2 cents: most of the prog-metal (or even hard rock) bands that signed to Nuclear Blast, issued their heaviest records ever, I'm thinking of Rage, Threshold, Gotthard and of course Symphony X. Amorphis haven't got heavier but they got back to the growling vocals.
Is it a coincidence or on purpose? No idea, but it seems a fact to me.

I haven't heard the new Threshold, but I'm apprehensive about since their old vocalist left. I LOVED Dead Reckoning but haven't kept up with them since then.

Edit: listening to 'Ashes' now, not sure I like Wilson as much as Mac but so far I'm digging it.

The songs being well-balanced between all instruments is something I really miss from Symphony X. In the pre-Odyssey days, the guitar didn't step all over everything, nor was it super high in the mix. Now it's practically all you hear. The keys were weak on PL (while the bass was decent). The bass on Iconoclast might as well not even be there, whereas the keys have come up a bit and have songs centered around them. They just seem to have trouble making a recent album where all the instrument levels are perfect.

I'm not sure if Romeo does the engineering himself, but they should probably work with someone else. They've had the same problem for years.

Oh, I beg to differ. I think The Turning is clear filler, and Incantations, while decent, isn't up to par with the rest of the album. Luckily, The Odyssey, Accolade II, Awakenings, and King all make up for it. Inferno and Wicked are both damn good, as well.

I love The Turning so much. It is the epitome of virtuosity in metal, it so hard to play. Plus I love Russ's vocals on it.

I'm all for it, especially so they can make the bass tone more like it was on PL. It's so buried in the mix on The Odyssey (and V, for that matter). The whole sound of the album is just too... compressed, maybe? There's something about the tone in general that I dislike. It seems flat.

Yeah, I agree. I think PL was their best overall produced work. The Odyssey has a lot of engineering issues that bother me, mainly the bass like you said and the keyboards being so buried in the mix.

 

[Marwen]

IMO, in terms of bass, drums and orchestra PL is hands down their best-produced work.

In terms of guitars and keys, not so much. (although considering their less organic more digital-sounding timbre, the guitars could have sounded worse if it weren't for great mixing and layering)

 

[iceandfire84]

I haven't heard the new Threshold, but I'm apprehensive about since their old vocalist left. I LOVED Dead Reckoning but haven't kept up with them since then.

Actually Damien Wilson was the original vocalist of Threshold and came back to the band with the newest release which is excellent throughout in my opinion.

Also, not sure if you know but Andrew McDermott died in 2011 of kidney failure. I never really listened to the Threshold records he sang on (as I am a huge fan of Wilson), but have heard that Dead Reckoning was excellent. I will probably have to give that a spin.

 

[LavagesOfTime]

Dead Reckoning is Threshold's first album on Nuclear Blast and it's way heavier (speaking of both production and sngwriting) than any previous release. March Of Progress is a bit less heavy but much more complex and progressive.

 

[UnholyCrusada]

While we're on the topic of SX's future, what do you all think of Rullo having heart failure? I mean, the post on the band's site says he'll be out for 3-6 months minimum. Does this mean the South American shows in April are cancelled? Or are they going to get a stand-in while he's recovering?

 

[LavagesOfTime]

While we're on the topic of SX's future, what do you all think of Rullo having heart failure? I mean, the post on the band's site says he'll be out for 3-6 months minimum. Does this mean the South American shows in April are cancelled? Or are they going to get a stand-in while he's recovering?

I think they haven't decided yet.

 

[Liampie]

Maybe they'll get Thomas Walling.

 

[UnholyCrusada]

Maybe they'll get Thomas Walling.

Exactly what I was thinking!

 

[Matt]

While we're on the topic of SX's future, what do you all think of Rullo having heart failure? I mean, the post on the band's site says he'll be out for 3-6 months minimum. Does this mean the South American shows in April are cancelled? Or are they going to get a stand-in while he's recovering?

Knowing SymX they'll just cancel all their shows lol

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

The 3 main changes I'd want to see is to make the mix (mainly the guitars) sound less "congested" and more open and improving the bass timbre and presence (perhaps these are the words you're looking for Detective? I think we share the same thoughts here), and updating the orchestral sounds making them less dry and less "samply" sounding and generally bigger and more score-like and realistic.

Oh, I could definitely get behind that. If they could make it more like the mix on PL (with the guitars not being as loud or the "sound war" thing going on), the album would be much stronger.

And yes, it's definitely the timbre, but the bass is also too low in the mix for my tastes. On PL, you can hear the liquid clang of the bass strings; you can't on The Odyssey or V. You really have to strain to hear some of the bass parts on these albums, because when you do, you'll hear LePond playing some pretty cool stuff.

I hope Jason recovers soon, regardless of whether or not it's in time for the shows. If not, they can get some other drummer, although I think it's more likely that they'll just cancel the shows. I'm no drummer, but I doubt Jason's parts are easy to replicate.

 

[Matt]

Rullo is a world class drummer, but there are other world class drummers around. Mike Portnoy, for instance

 

[ElvenShadow]

I really hope Jason makes a full recovery. I was shocked when I read the news.

 

[Krondor]

People worrying about cancelling shows...
Health > everything else.

 

[EyeballKid]

All debating aside, I hope Jason has a swift recovery and we can see him back behind the kit by next year.

Mathias, you may actually be onto something. Considering Russell's participation in Adrenaline Mob, I would not be surprised to see Portnoy fill in on a couple shows.

 

[UnholyCrusada]

People worrying about cancelling shows...
Health > everything else.

I agree, but the statement said that Jason has a great chance of making a full recovery and that he's feeling better now, so since the worst appears to be over we are free to speculate how this will affect such things as tour dates and even writing for the next album.

Mathias, you may actually be onto something. Considering Russell's participation in Adrenaline Mob, I would not be surprised to see Portnoy fill in on a couple shows.

I thought the Portnoy jab was just supposed to be a joke, but now that you bring that up, that would actually be pretty fucking awesome. I'd definitely go see that.

 

[Bluefish]

People worrying about cancelling shows...
Health > everything else.

This.

 

[Isaac_de_Moorea]

A friend scared the shit out of me when told me this (whitout a slow read of the article ¬¬). I really hope Rullo can get a full recovery. But as Crusada, I think that they made the statement just now because the worst is over.

In the other hand, it´s just my opinion, but I think MP and SX are just incompatible. That doesn´t mean I think it´s an impossible. But meh, I´d prefer to bring back Wailing.

 

[Marwen]

People worrying about cancelling shows...
Health > everything else.

+1

Here's for a quick recovery for Jason whose style I really enjoy.

And why exactly would Portnoy filling in for him be awesome? His non-dynamic style is the last thing SX needs at this point. He's a bad influence. lol

 

[Phanto]

Portnoy "non-dynamic style"?
What

 

[Marwen]

His playing, it lacks dynamics. You can have a program sound like him.

Dynamics = how widely note velocities vary.

He's a technically good (obviously) but overrated drummer who helped create the typical modern "prog metal" sound that made the genre less interesting.

My opinion.