Symphony X - Twilight in Olympus (1998)^{Release ID: 2567}

My grand experience with Symphony X's 7th album Paradise Lost has made me up to revisiting more to this band's albums. One incredible place to start is Twilight in Olympus, which is yet another classic that I've listened to since over a decade ago and still remember its glory. And considering how much I was into the modern classical works of Two Steps From Hell before switching to metal, no wonder I loved bands and albums like this masterpiece back then!

This can be considered the "Thomas" album since it's the last one with former bassist Thomas Miller, and drummer Jason Rullo was temporarily replaced by Thomas Walling (RIP). I say this is the transition album between the neoclassical era of their first 3 albums and the power-ish progressive era of the 3 albums after this one.

Some of the best progressive metal to surpass Dream Theater occurs in the opener "Smoke and Mirrors", one of my favorite tracks by this band. All we have in the structure is the mundane verse-chorus that ends up getting a grand enhancement, displaying the band's skills without having to make a half-hour epic. The neoclassical madness of this band Symphony X may be hard for simple guitar listeners to understand. But there are great guitar solos to learn such as the one around the 4-minute mark, performed by the impressive Michael Romeo. He often duets with keyboardist Michael Pinella, creating a sea of melodies. The riffing is not what you often hear in melodic progressive metal. Also I love the melodic singing by Russell Allen. He never goes as ridiculously high as other power metal vocalists, and sometimes he sounds nicely rough for the thrashy sections. And oh yeah, the awesome bass by Thomas Miller is audible. I'm not sure why "Church of the Machine" started with an industrial noise-ridden intro, but that doesn't matter. The heavy verses are in perfect balance with the chorus that almost turns the song into the band's own "Bohemian Rhapsody". The ending is quite abrupt, but again it doesn't matter. It just leads straight to "Sonata", a short instrumental take on Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8.

"In the Dragon’s Den" shows that the band can kick a** with the progressive neoclassical metal sound. Sometimes, melody doesn't have to be as deathly as Dark Tranquillity and In Flames. You can get it from bands that are meant to sound like Symphony X, Stratovarius, and Nightwish. Short songs balance out against longer epics like this next track... "Through the Looking Glass" is a long melodic track, following the band's trend of having at least one long epic since their debut and carrying on to subsequent albums. It lasts for 13 minutes and follows the "FantasMic" idea of 3 parts with the last being the heaviest. It ends up getting a bit repetitive towards the end, but still great.

Next up is another short fast track "The Relic", complete with a perfect chorus. The riffing aggression carries on into "Orion - The Hunter" alongside amazing vocals in the verses. I'm not too fond of the soloing, but once again, the 5-star album rating stays intact. Similarly to the previous album, this one ends with a haunting ballad, "Lady of the Snow". Nice singing by Russell Allen and guitarwork by Michael Romeo. That's how metal ballads should be. Melancholic, not happy-sappy.

Twilight in Olympus has been quite a progressive journey through fantasy and mythology ala power metal lyrics, all poetic with only a small tasy dash of cheese. Romeo and Miller are two main songwriters in this album, but with Miller gone, Allen would take his place in the songwriting department. That early era ends as a new one begins!

Favorites: "Smoke and Mirrors", "Church of the Machine", "In the Dragon’s Den", "The Relic"

Much like the previous album, here we’ve got another Progressive Neoclassical release with a ton of Power and Symphonic Metal influence. Compositions are lush with layers of guitarwork, keys, synths and atmospherics.

All the music is played to clinical precision. Songwriting is strong and varied, with tons of shifts in speed and tonal style. The compositions are interesting in many ways, both in the multi layering of instruments and the unforeseen twists and turns each song attempts to take you on. And you bet these guys can play their instruments; impressive displays from each member pop up more than a few times across the album.

By rights, it seems like an album I’d adore. But like the previous two, it lacks something very important. Hooks! I don’t mean poppy vocal hooks. I just mean ANY hooks. None of the guitar leads are memorable, the riffs fall to rhythmic chugging most of the time, the synth melodies are nice but always take a back seat, and yeah, the vocals don’t provide any hooks either.

That’s a massive weakness, BUT all the strengths I mentioned prior are still going very strong. So, the album is still pretty great, but it can’t be more than that.

Symphony X are pretty much the go-to band for the neoclassical sound.  Yes, there were earlier guitar pioneers, like Yngwie Malmsteen, but Symphony X are about the BAND, not the riffs.  It took three albums for them to perfect the art of riffage, thus being the firest neoclassical prog metal act.  Divine Wings of Tragedy is seen by some as their opus, but they hadn't yet mastered the art of album-making, which requires some diversity to stay as strong as possible for an hour.  That's something Divine Wings of Tragedy didn't quite have.  Twilight in Olympus had it in spades, and because of that I feel it is my proud obligation to express my opinion that Twilight in Olympus shows clear superiority over Divine Wings, which is an unpopular opinion to say the least.

Divine Wings of Tragedy was all about the progressive riffage mingling with the classical, but it was pretty much one kind of classical.  Twlight in Olypus sounds like it is in fact a magical album, one that givies into the glitter without giving up the crunch.  Because of this, the more surreal and mythical moments feel so natural that it's easy to float on a cloud whiles and at the same time headbanging.  This is very true for some of the more conventional songs as well, such as the incredible opener Smoke and Mirrors and the later Orion, which mingle the pop structure with the neoclassical prog sound beautifully.  But our show stealer is the thirteen minute epic, Through the Looking Glass, which recounts the story of the same name with a type of magic unheard of in previous Alice in Wonderland songs, one that does everything a prog epic should, deliver a part of a rock opera while carefully balancing out the multiple essential aspects of rock, metal, prog and classical.  bsolutely flawless.

This album carries a lot of tricks up its sleeves that Divine Wings didn't have, and to this point the album is only surpassed by the band via V: The New Mythology Suite, and closely followed by Paradise Lost.  This is THE essential neoclassical sound which anyone hoping to get into the genre should probably check out first.  This is also the album I return to the most when I want serious magic.

It would seem a near-impossible task for a band to not only match, but surpass 'The Divine Wings of Tragedy', but if anyone can do it, it's the albums creators themselves, for with 'Twilight in Olympus', Symphony X have unleashed a pure masterpiece of progressive metal upon the world.

Comfortable and confident with their sound, the interplay between all the musicians on this release is breathtaking, with each member given ample time to shine. Michael Romeo's guitars are at their neoclassical best, with keyboard player Michael Pinnella matching him note for note. The rhythm section, despite the long compositions and intricate structures, are as solid as ever, and Russell Allen's vocals are truly at their peak. From aggressive to melodic, from deathly growls to the highest wails, this truly is one of the most versatile singers in the world, fronting some of the most technically proficient musicians in the world.

Despite being a continuation of the style they'd honed and perfected over the last few albums, nothing on 'Twilight' sounds forced or stagnant. The band sound more focused and driven than ever. While every song here is a true highlight in the bands discography, it's the first half of the album that deserves particular attention. 'Smoke and Mirrors' and 'In the Dragon's Den' are relentless in speed and technique, and 'Church of the Machine' and 'Through the Looking Glass' are two of the greatest "epics" the genre has to offer.

With its blend of metal, progressive and neoclassical elements, virtuoso musicianship and solid production, Symphony X's 'Twilight in Olympus' is an absolute beast of an album, and is without a doubt one of progressive metal's finest offerings.