PARADISE LOST

Symphony X, I must confess, is one of my favorite bands, and thus I may tend to judge them wrong. I so long awaited this CD that when I got one of the promo CDs I just wanted to shout it out to the whole world and jump all around. I eagerly put in in my recorder, and pressed play.

Oculus ex Inferni: A majestic intro, with a lot of dark ambiance. My heart beating hard in my chest. Wow, this IS a good intro. I love it. It remembers me of those old V days(by the way, V is my favorite CD)Some guitars and some orchestral-choral background. Some keyboards rage almost sporadically. Its just touching.

Set The World On Fire(The Lie of Lies): Finally the moment had come. This was the very moment in which I started listening to my favorite band's latest CD, a CD that took 5 years of preparation to be done. I was sooo excited. As the song begun I felt some blood running into my head. The guitars come in. WHOA! THIS IS SYMPHONY X! I even head banged. The entire CD is definitely not as heavy as The Odyssey. Though, the first seconds of the songs you get this overwhelming feeling of heaviness. Then you get Russell's vocals. Somehow, these vocals are harsher than in previous CD's. When the chorus comes, you notice a new element in SYX. How to describe it is the real question. Its a more epic-power element, still not going to a Rhapsody stage. I like it, but i'm not really convinces with it. For about 10 seconds after the chorus, there are some completely V manner keyboards. This song could be a combination of V plus some Odyssey elements, and the final touch of fresh material.

Domination: An ABSOLUTELY TDWOT song. It is something very similar to "Sea Of Lies", "Of Sins And Shadows" song. Cool, but not great. Not very innovative. Again you feel Russel's vocals are harsher. I was a little let down while listening this song. It was just not as convincing as I would expect from the 2nd song in this cd. Not bad though.

The Serpent's Kiss: As the song begins, you notice once more the Odyssey moments. Heavy, deep. But then, the guitars cease as the vocals begin, and the fresh air hits you in the face. This song is definitely one of the best in the CD. Very different from the earlier SYX material. Cool riffs, good vocal arrengements(harsher than in earlier works, again). Some of those fark, choral parts mixed now and then with heavy Romeo guitars. Very good song.

Paradise Lost: When this song begun, I just thought of some old school SYX songs like Accolade, Accolade II, or Communion And The Oracle. But then at some point of the song, I remembered one of my favorite songs. Awakenings. This song is beautiful. Harmonious. Russell just touched my heart, lol. I LOVE it. No match for this song in Paradise Lost. Amazing, just shocking.

Eve of Seduction: Mmmm This song is one of the mos uniteresting tracks in the CD. Some parts are cool, but overall, I get boared listening to it. Nothing really special to remark here, just that lyrics seems to be good.

The Walls Of Babylon: Definitely remembers me of King Of Terrors. Some Heavy guitars introduce the song, along with some choral keyboards which give it some ambiance of darkness. Cool keyboards then get along with guitars. At the poing where vocals begin, I can only think in King Of Terrors. Almost a copy-cat. Not the best song in the CD though(so I thought of King Of Terrors when I heard it).

Seven: Good song, I'd say. Raging, amazing keyboards. Cool guitar riffs. Though, this song is a very Oddyssey song. I would compare it too The Turning or Wicked. Im not fan of these kinds of songs, but I don't dislike them. I think this is an average song. Some parts are very cool, others are just filling.

The Sacrifice: This is another "Communion And The Oracle", "Accolade" song. It's not bad. But its another song, and only that. Lyric is very cool. No more comments about it, I guess.

Revelation (Divus Pennae ex Tragoedia): This is the Paradise Lost long song SYX always includes in their CDs. It starts with some guitars with a very DWOT sound. Then we hear the vocals, and some parts of it are just much more fresh than previous 3 songs. Others, are very Odyssey parts. They are both cool, but either is great. Then you get some DWOT vocals. The song is kindda unfortunatley repetitive, though I sense this was not what SYX planned for it. Good song.

This cd overall is very good. I was expecting more from SYX, but I think that it wont be long until the next CD is released, and I would say that in that CD we will have a renewed SYX. Remarkable songs: Oculus ex Inferni, Set The World On Fire(The Lie of Lies), The Serpent's Kiss, Paradise Lost.

Soft sections: 10/10 Heavy sections: 8/10 Lasting Appeal: 8/10 Musicianship: 9/10 Creativity/Originality: 8.5/10 Oculus ex Inferni: 10/10 Set The World On Fire(The Lie Of Lies): 10/10 Domination: 7/10 The Serpents Kiss: 9.5/10 Paradise Lost: 10/10(Absolutely the best song in the CD, and one of SYX's greatest) Eve of Seduction: 6/10 The Walls Of Babylon: 8/10 Seven: 8.5/10 The Sacrifice: 8/10 Revelation (Divus Pennae ex Tragoedia): 8.5/10

10+8+8+9+8.5+10+10+7+9.5+10+6+8+8.5+8+8.5=129 129/150=86/100=43/50=4.3/5 4*