V - THE NEW MYTHOLOGY SUITE

To me, this album defines Symphony X's signature sound. The music is all pretty heavy, but nothing is so heavy or distorted that it doesn't have their stamp on it. In other words, it's Prog Metal, but it is not a clone of anything.

This album is a suite of songs that really plays well when listened to from beginning to end. There are great transitions between the songs, too. That may not work well when ripped to MP3, because of the second of silence between the tracks. I think that when listened to on CD, the segues really push this CD towards being more progressive.

The vocals are strong and aggressive, without being anything like death/black vocals. The guitars are probably why I continue to keep this CD in my rotation. Again, in my opinion they are unique enough. All the other instruments are great. Aside from a couple dueling guitar/keyboard leads, the focus seems to be on playing as a band. Most of the songs have pretty memorable hooks, but nothing in the song-writing department seems overused.

The lyrics are a pretty wild re-telling of the Atlantis story. There is a link on there web site that explains the story, which is helpful if you are interested.

Overall, this is the one Symphony X CD I would own, if I could only own one. It may not have much to lend to a Greatest Hits album, but I think it is very consistent and is entertaining as a suite, which is what I guess they intended.