THE ODYSSEY

"The Odyssey" is,in my opinion,the heaviest album in Symphony X's discography. and the rawest too.It was guitarist and main man Michael Romeo's idea to go slightly off the beaten path and try a rawer approach, in the instrumental as well as in the vocal department.Instrumentally, this change of direction can be heard in the numerous riffs that characterise most of the songs on "The Odyssey". These guitar riffs give the still very recognisable Symphony X sound a light touch of thrash, especially on the opening track "Inferno (Unleash The Fire)" and "King Of Terrors", which I think is the heaviest song this band has ever recorded. It's also on these songs that Russell Allen could amuse himself making his vocal lines more direct and rawer. But of course, there was still plenty of room left on the disc to please those who prefer the 'old' type of material, which makes this album a varied product. "Wicked", "The Turning" and "Awakenings" are genuine and traditional Symphony X songs offering melody and emotion, while the impressive power ballad "Accolade II" is the sequel to the eponymous song that was on 1995's "The Divine Wings Of Tragedy". But the eye-catcher is the dramatic title track. With its length of over 24 minutes, "The Odyssey" is comprised of six parts that together tell the ancient Greek legend. The countless classical pieces in this song reminded me a lot of "V" by the way. I think the step from the sublime "The Divine Wings Of Tragedy" to the - in my view equally heavy - "Twilight In Olympus" was a harder one to take for many among us. After the orchestral "V", this more direct "The Odyssey" is just the logical next step in the impressive career of Symphony X, who have placed themselves among the biggest bands in the prog metal genre An excellent addition to any progressive metal fans collection,4 stars.