V - THE NEW MYTHOLOGY SUITE

Out of my 700 or so prog rock/metal Cds Symphony Xs "The New Mythology Suite" (or "V" )is in my top ten, a 5 star CD if there ever was one. That's not to say other Cds by this band are not great, they are (with the possible exception of the 1st two). Even their latest epic "The Odyssey" does not do for me what "V" does. On this CD Symphony X are at their most complex yet musical best. Complex? Yup, big time! Check out 3 odd and simultaneous time signatures (the beginning of "Communion and the Oracle", parts of "Rediscovery part 2"and "Egypt". And it's melodic as hell. Now a lot of times a band will do this "hard math meets music" with awful results. Even the mighty Dream Theater is guilty of making certain parts of their songs a...... Rhythmic cluster f**k if you will. Well Symphony X have found away around that with songwriter/guitarist Michael Romeo. He's a master of rhythmic, melodic and thematic complexities without losing sight of song or melody. As a guitarist he shreds but does so much more. It would seem thet Mr. Romeo is more concerned with song writing then blowing his wad on every song (Y.Malmsteen anyone?) The CD start's out with a rocker called "Evolution" . Next is another rocker, but, check it out closely and you will see there is a lot more going on then you might think. Track #5 "Communion and the Oracle" is the one of my favorite prog. songs of the last 25 years. It is everything I could want in a prog. Metal song. Ultra melodic and ridiculously rhythmically complex. Beautiful vocal harmonies and lush piano lines compete with the crunch of Romeo's guitar and Russell Allen's throaty sometimes gruff vocal gymnastics. Track #6 is another rockish tune. #8 is called "Egypt". It's a great name for this song, because even without words the music would speak volumes on the subject of this tune. And then comes "The Death of Balance". It's drummer Jason Rullo's time to shine and a big bright light he is!! Orchestrated by Romeo this song is a percussion onslaught with mind boggling drum fills, tempo shifts and odd time signatures. (They do this one live. And I for one was amazed at how well they pulled it off) Track #10 is another complex yet rocking song. Tracks 11 and 12 are the last 2 and are essentially one song (named "Rediscovery") There's a lot of counterpoint melodic theme's going on here just as in "Communion" and the singing is on the softer side of Allen's voice. Note---On the next CD "The Odyssey" Russell Allen really turns up the Crunch factor in his voice. (A move I did not care for but am still amazed at the power he has. I.e. Balls!!) This CD has been out now for 4 or 5 years and my view on it has not changed since my proverbial jaw hit the ground on the 1st listen.