THE ODYSSEY

I make no effort to hide the fact that most prog metal doesn't impress me much. Most of the time the metal far outweighs the prog. Yawn. But Symphony X, at least on the few albums I own by them, does it right. And a prog band with the word "symphony" in the name damn well better have something symphonic in their sound. They score on that one as well.

Sure, there is a lot of that generic metal sound. Fast crunchy guitars, machine gun drums, and raspy, throaty vocals. But they never go over the edge. The guitar solos are fast, but artfully played. The synths are out front and artful. And the vocals never turn into that death metal barfing sound.

Two songs stand out from the pack. Accolade II, sounds like a blend of metal and classic era Kansas. In fact, Russell Allen, when singing cleanly, sound pretty close to Steve Walsh. And although it may disappoint metal purists, it's a high point on the album.

The other great piece is the title track, The Odyssey. This has some of the most bombastic, and wonderful orchestra use I've heard in any prog piece. and at twenty four minutes, it does some justice to the epic it depicts.

And remember, I'm not a prog metal fan.