THE ODYSSEY

Symphony X suffers from a disorder I'd like to call too-much-fantasy-and-manowar-when-I-should've- studied-in-scool-syndrome, while being widespread in this genre, Symphony X stands as the epitome of this. Being a huge fantasy fan, and having laughed at Manowar since I was a kid, I do not mean this as a necesserily bad thing. Symphony X has really been able to bypass their rivals Dream Theater in alot of ways both due to their insanely talented singer Russel Allen and the insane riffage of Michael Romeo. This album is the point where they really took a step from the (in my humble oppinion)dreadful works of old and showed that they had alot to offer in the power metal/progressive metal genre.

The album opens with what is sure to be an heavy metal classic and from there on keeps delivering songs full of heavy and epic. So where's the flaw? If you're into this kind of music, this will be close to heaven, it is in almost every sense the perfect power metal/progressive metal album. For me as a listener(and not a big fan of the genre) the problem kicks in around King of Terrors and works its way through the album from there. While they deliver so much, and are truly monsters in their respective area, the song writing really needs work.

The constant use of heavy rolling riffs and simple song structure take alot of the heat out of this, as nothing really unexpected ever happens, and for me progressive has to offer atleast some juicy twists to bite into. Once I get to the epic ending of The Odyssey, I tend to have completely forgotten I'm even listening to music or gotten so weary of the generic guitar sound that I want to stay clean of distorded guitars for years and years to come.

The song which the album is named after is somewhat of a humerous thing for me(not dissing the song itself, it's just that it's so insanely unattractive to me as a listener), until from nowhere, 12:15 minutes into the song, the reason why I'd recommend anyone. The two parts following that mark are perhaps the best written pieces I've ever heard in this genre, true masterpieces embeded in this otherwise mediocre(at best) album.

To sum it up, if you're a fan of this kind of music you will love this album to no end. If you aren't, you'll probably find it unbearable or gruesomely boring. As for me, I feel like I'm in between these two. The diamonds found in this album makes it a worthwhile listen, but just for the period those diamonds show themselves.

2,5/5