Symphony X - Underworld

Well, I’ve had the album now for a couple weeks and, it’s a letdown, pure and simple. This year has been a great year in music for me, from Steven Wilson to Iron Maiden, damn near all of my favorite bands and musicians have, or are, releasing new material. When I heard Symphony X finally had a new album coming out, I was excited. The hype train fully took off when I read that Michael Romeo stated they were going to try to focus on the more symphonic/neo-classical elements that the band had been known for, while, of course, keeping with the faster/heavier style they’d taken since 2007’s Paradise Lost. However, despite this claim, the album is even more streamlined and heavy than both Paradise Lost and Iconoclast.

With this album, Symphony X completely embraces the ultra-heavy style started in Paradise Lost, to the point that it’s barely even progressive metal. From the blistering and heavy guitar work, to Allen’s grungier/meaner vocals, down to the clichéd and obligatory power ballads, it feels more like a faster Adrenaline Mob than it does Symphony X. It’s like they recognized how cheesy and commercially inappropriate their previous records had been, what with all the male choirs and power metal sensibilities, and decided the best option was to try to be Pantera. All they did, however, was trade one ridiculous style/trope with another. I mean with growled lyrics like “bring down the hammer, with serious anger, it’s me against the world” it’s still just as cheesy as before, but now with the pretense of being “hardcore.”  It's clear they've completely abandoned the prog metal crowd and are now fully catering to the metal equivalent of the dude bro.

Top that off with mostly recycled riffs and material and you’ve got an album that truly disappoints. 95% of the album sounds like it was ripped from earlier albums, but this holds especially true with: Kiss of Fire, Nevermore and Underworld. The riffs and general song structure is about the same as it’s been since Paradise Lost, albeit streamlined to award more accessibility. Romeo’s a class guitarist, but he’s not exactly the most creative. Hell, even the classic albums had a general samey feeling to them. Still, there was something to the earlier compositions that made them fresh and exciting, even if it sounded like the band wasn’t really growing. Underworld, just doesn’t have that freshness, it’s a paint by numbers metal album - formulaic and unimaginative.

It’s not even that I can’t handle them changing and getting heavier; I loved Paradise Lost and Iconoclast precisely for their heaviness. I thought they were splendid albums that showcased the band branching out and trying something different. More importantly, they still retained that progressive nature that the band was known for. Underworld doesn’t do that, it just recycles and streamlines. It’s not a bad album, but like a certain Black Album, by a certain band, it’s something of a disappointment.