THE DIVINE WINGS OF TRAGEDY

My fondness of "The Devine Wings of Tragedy" has declined of late, I don't know why but I just find it less appealing now, it's strange. Of course, I still like it but not as much I used to, perhaps my recent ventures into different realms of music has rendered metal inferior. This much is relatively true as over the last three months or so I've almost doubled the number of bands I listen to and I owe it all to progarchives.

"The Devine Wings of Tragedy" has the genuine Symphony X mythology concept and songs like "The Accolade" and "The Eyes of Medusa "prove this to be true. All this has already been done by bands like Led Zeppelin but Symphony X seem to take it further and louder than everyone else. Passionate vocals from Russell Allen and furious guitar, Keyboards, Drums and Bass make for a good listen. The aim of "The Devine Wings of Tragedy" was to focus more on the band's progressive influences. Symphony X had already done the classic adaptation with 'The Damnation Game', now it was time for something a bit different. The band was influenced by Kansas and Rush as well as some others in the recording of "The Devine Wings of Tragedy."

The title song epic, "The Devine Wings of Tragedy" opens with a Gregorian chant in English which then moves into basically 18 minutes of metal, which seems to meld into each other. Other songs like "Out of the Ashes" have a more conventional approach with a chorus repeated a few times and heavy passages in between, the same can be said for almost every other song on the album. The one standout on "The Devine Wings of Tragedy" is "The Accolade" which overall is quieter and more progressive than the rest of the album. There are some obvious Kansas/Rush influences in this song and a violin is used to great effect reminding me of Kansas. All the songs on "The Devine Wings of Tragedy" are at a solid three star level and nothing really stands out as being really good or bad, excluding "The Accolade."

1.Of Skins and Shadows (3/5) 2.Sea of Lies (3/5) 3.Out of the Ashes (3/5) 4.The Accolade (5/5) 5.Pharaoh (3/5) 6.The Eyes of Medusa (3/5) 7.The Witching Hour (3/5) 8.The Devine Wings of Tragedy (3/5) 9.Candlelight Fantasia (3/5) Total = 26 divided by 9 (number of songs) = 2.888.9 = 3 stars Good, but non-essential

"The Devine Wings of Tragedy" is a very good album for all the prog metal heads around. It is also a good listen for the Kansas and/or Rush faithful out there, but of course it is no where are good as any Kansas album. I'd recommend "The Devine Wings of Tragedy" to, as I said prog metal fans. Symphony X is louder than Dream Theater, but aren't as well developed at this point, just so you know if your thinking of getting some of their stuff. "Good nigh..."