PARADISE LOST

After a five year wait, Symphony X delivered their heaviest album to date with the crushing Paradise Lost. Pinella's keyboards sound a lot heavier, and his interplay with Romeo has never been tighter. rullo still has the most groove of any prog metal drummer I know. Allen sounds enraged for about 90% of the album and he seems to spit the lyrics at times. Lepond finally steps out of Thomas Miller's shadow with some killer bass performances. Romeo sets himself up as the king of prog metal riff-makers with his best set of riffs yet.

What is immediately noticeable (besides the crushing heaviness) is the lack of any epics. laso, only one song has any ties with John Milton's epic poem, and it's more of a metaphor for life than a synopsis of that wonderful piece of literature. However, Symhony X prove that they can cram all of their progressive traits into shorter tracks. This release marks SX as the true successors of Rush. The drums are technical yet groovy, and the short tracks have more complexity than many epics. The entire album is enjoyable, but highlights include the storming "Set The World On Fire (The Lie Of Lies) ," "Domination" (which opens with a killer bass intro), "The Serpent's Kiss" and the epic "The Walls of Babylon." "Eve of Seduction" and "The Sacrifice" are the weakest tracks of the album; they just fail to ecite me. They're not bad, but they don't stand out.

After the slight misstep of The Odyssey, SX bounce back tremendously with this release. It is the air guitar album of the year and you'll be shredding your tennis racket along with Romeo until you can't lift your arm. It isn't very varied, but it is highly enjoyable an a great album for any fan of prog metal.

Grade: B

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