{"id":35337,"date":"2015-07-24T00:00:26","date_gmt":"2015-07-24T00:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=35337"},"modified":"2015-08-29T23:33:08","modified_gmt":"2015-08-29T23:33:08","slug":"feature-symphony-x-07-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-symphony-x-07-15\/","title":{"rendered":"SYMPHONY X &#8211; Hell And Back (July 2015) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"title\"><strong>SYMPHONY X &#8211; Hell And Back<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"smalltitle\">Anthony Morgan<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt\">July 2015<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/symphonyx2015promophoto1.jpg\" border=\"0\"><br \/><span class=\"smalltext\"><strong><em>Symphony X (l-r): Michael Pinnella, Michael Romeo, Russell Allen, Mike LePond and Jason Rullo<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><br \/>\nIn penning tracks for each respective full-length, the individual members of New Jersey-based progressive metal outfit Symphony X collectively discuss several ideas which could be potentially fleshed out as well as a given musical direction the band could potentially venture towards. This was also the case for July 2015 studio effort <em>Underworld<\/em>, their ninth studio affair overall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe spent a little time talking about it, and probably the thing that was different about this album was we talked about it really being an album as a whole, and really having the flow of the songs feeling really cohesive,\u201d notes Michael Romeo, guitarist and co-founding member of Symphony X. \u201cWe had actually kind of even mapped it out early on, like what kind of song would go where. Just really being conscious of the flow, obviously paying attention to the songs and each song being a little different. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was another thing that we had talked about, too; doing like a good balance of things, with some very heavy stuff and maybe some more melodic stuff, and some of the progressive stuff, and trying to get all of those elements in there. The early stages was about having a good variety of material and also a good flow, with a little bit of things we\u2019ve done in the past mixed with some newer things. Just being conscious of all of that stuff was how we kind of started it all out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Such comments suggest the axeman feels certain past Symphony X records didn\u2019t function as albums \u2018as a whole\u2019. \u201cEvery album, you\u2019re trying to write a record,\u201d he submits. \u201cUsually, you have a bunch of songs, and then when you\u2019re done with the writing and the recording, you\u2019re trying to find that right order. That\u2019s the normal way that us and probably most bands do it like. The only thing that was different about this one was that that was really kind of thought out from the beginning. It was really kind of one the main points \u2013 just the flow of what, when, and where \u2013 and it kind of helped with writing too. Not that any of the other albums aren\u2019t albums as a whole, but this one, yeah, more attention was paid to the continuity of one song into another. Maybe if we even had have written all of these songs and worked on the order later, it probably would have been the same order anyway. Yeah though, man. We did think about that thing. That was just a little different way to approach it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In determining \u2018that right order\u2019, the chosen closing track shares equal importance with the chosen opening track when crafting an album meant to be digested as a whole. Performing swansong duties on <em>Underworld<\/em> happens to be \u2018Legend\u2019, and not its perhaps more appropriately named predecessor. \u201cEarly on, we were thinking of it being the song that\u2019s right before it \u2013 \u2018Swan Song\u2019 I \u2013 and to kind of close it with&#8230; I don\u2019t want to say a ballad,\u201d Michael observes. \u201cThat song\u2019s not really a ballad\u2019y song, but again, it\u2019s kind of typical of us \u2013 that more melodic, lighter thing. I think at some point, it was like \u2018Man, maybe just end the record&#8230;\u2019&#8230; <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were trying to think of lyrically what we could do, and musically what would be the right one. I do remember that that might\u2019ve been a little open at that point, and then it was like \u2018No, man. We should just have a song that\u2019s a summery kind of thing.\u2019 Just about the good and the evil, and the hero, and these myths that go on, and all of this kind of stuff. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cMusically, yeah, it has a little bit of everything. That song has some progressive elements, and again, a lot of the stuff that we\u2019ve done over the years. Yeah, it felt right to close with something like that. I think if it was a lighter song, it still would\u2019ve been effective, but it was like \u2018No, man. Let\u2019s pick it up.\u2019 Obviously, you want an album to start with an overture to get you in the mood of it, but the first track? Yeah, it\u2019s uptempo, it\u2019s energetic. You want that first song to really kick in, and then the last song was the same kind of thing. Really though, it was more about putting a lot of different things that we\u2019ve done into that song. And yeah, it felt good too. I think either one probably could\u2019ve closed it, but that was probably the right choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Certain music fans tend to listen to specific tracks nowadays and ignore others, eschewing consuming whole records. \u201cYeah, and that was one of the reasons that we wanted to kind of stay true to the album thing,\u201d the composer divulges. \u201cYeah, that was a part of it too. It is tough. To give the music the attention, yeah, it is getting difficult. People are busy and that kind of thing, but man, I think if you really try to do something like that, people kind of see it and will hopefully listen and embrace the whole thing. We still paid a lot of attention to each song too, though, so I think each song on this record is pretty strong in its own way. There are some obviously that are really heavy, and then are some that are a little more melodic, and all of those things that I was saying. Yeah though, man. It was kind of meant to be heard as a whole thing, and the people who do I\u2019m sure will enjoy it. If you can\u2019t do it, that sucks (laughs). But yeah, it\u2019s just the way things are nowadays. <\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/symphonyxmichaelromeo2015promophoto1.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><em><strong>Michael Romeo<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt is tough, but we just wanted to stick with it. The stuff that we grew up with was all about the album. It was just great records; <em>Heaven And Hell<\/em> by (Black) <a href=\"\/site\/black-sabbath-articles\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sabbath<\/a> (April 1980), <em>Moving Pictures<\/em> by Rush (February 1981), <em>Master Of Puppets<\/em> by Metallica (March 1986). There were only just great albums. We just wanted to stay true to that thing. I had even seen documentaries about this, talking to people in the industry. And yeah, there is a lot of negativity. It\u2019s like \u2018Oh yeah&#8230; Albums are dead\u2019 and all this kind of crap, and it\u2019s like \u2018Fuck all that.\u2019 We\u2019re gonna do music, and people who enjoy listening to music hopefully will enjoy this. They\u2019d give it the time, I would hope.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although general listeners only listen to select tracks, a lot of metal fans arguably still digest whole full-lengths. \u201cI think they do,\u201d Michael agrees. \u201cI totally think they do. I still do. I\u2019m still a metal fan; I still listen to all of the stuff that I grew up with. If I do hear a new band now or if someone says \u2018Check out this new band,\u2019 I\u2019ll wait until I have the time to listen to it. During the whole recording thing, yeah, I\u2019m tied up here at my studio, so I\u2019m working 24\/7. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI accumulate a pile of discs that people drop by or what not \u2013 friends, bands \u2013 like \u2018Check out my demo\u2019 kind of thing. I\u2019ll wait until I\u2019m done, and sit down, and give it the attention it deserves. Yeah, I think most metal guys and most bands too, man. They just try to write a record. It\u2019s not about some pop single, or some kind of shit like that. It\u2019s just writing the stuff that we all grew up with. I think metal\u2019s different, but yeah, we do still wanna stay true to that thing because who knows where everything\u2019s heading in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A properly crafted album will feature different moods. \u201cThat\u2019s what we talked about in the beginning, about having a variety of songs and mapping out what kind of song would go where,\u201d the musician acknowledges. \u201cSome things are obvious. The first song on the record, you want it to be uptempo, and you want it to be kind of typical of what you do. I think that this \u2018Nevermore\u2019 song is typical of us. There are some different things that are on this record, but yeah, things like that, and then where the softer song would go, and what\u2019s after the lighter song \u2013 the ballad song. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like \u2018Well, let\u2019s just go with something really frickin\u2019 heavy,\u2019 so the order was kind of there. The moods naturally just fell into place, and the order kind of thing was mapped out from the beginning. As we were writing these songs and putting these songs together, we knew. It\u2019s like \u2018Okay, well, this will probably be this song here\u2019 or \u2018Obviously this is the more melodic, ballad\u2019y thing,\u2019 so we did have a pretty good road map of what it was, and then the moods would just follow naturally. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of different things. Some of the stuff is really heavy, and some of it is really melodic. There\u2019s progressive elements, there\u2019s some of the classic stuff. We did try to do all of the things that we\u2019ve done in the past \u2013 to kind of touch on everything a little bit \u2013 and obviously being conscious of the fans, too. There are some fans who really liked the <em>Iconoclast<\/em> record (June 2011) \u2013 the very heavy, aggressive thing \u2013 and then there are some fans who liked the more&#8230; Like the <em>Divine Wings<\/em> record (<em>The Divine Wings Of Tragedy<\/em>, March 1997); very melodic, a little bit more progressive. We were conscious of all of these things. We tried to touch on everything, so I think naturally, every song has its kind of own mood going on \u2013 its own feel, its own thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With respect to lighter material, Michael is perhaps referring to the likes of \u2018Without You\u2019 and so on.  \u201cYeah,\u201d Michael concurs. \u201cWe knew that obviously we were gonna have a lighter, ballad\u2019y song here, so it\u2019s not gonna be death metal riffs obviously (laughs). You kind of put the song together, and it\u2019s like \u2018Oh, yeah. That would be great.\u2019 Obviously, there\u2019s some songs that are kind of similar \u2013 kind of similarly heavy \u2013 so they could kind of go anywhere, but the order really kind of fell into place quick. Everything was like a puzzle. Everything just kind of clicked in, and just by having that idea of the flow, I think the album flows really good. I think the diversity \u2013 the balance of the melodic, and the more heavy stuff \u2013 it feels right. It just does feel right, but it felt like it was kind of always there. Like I said man, it kind of fell into place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In penning \u2018Without You\u2019 \u2013 as the axe-slinger references \u2013 Symphony X knew they wished to cut a ballad track. \u201cThat song is kind of typical of us,\u201d he reckons, \u201cbut there are some different things obviously about it, and with the record. We did talk about really kind of focusing the songwriting and really fine-tuning the melodies and that kind of thing, so that song just kind of happened. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s that different than anything we\u2019ve done, but maybe the arrangement\u2019s a little more streamlined kind of thing. Obviously, we paid a lot of attention to the melodies, and the flow of everything. Lyrically, when we get together and we\u2019re talking about the music and all that stuff, we\u2019re always trying to find some kind of a concept or a theme to bounce ideas off of lyrically. With this one, it was Dante\u2019s Inferno (<em>The Divine Comedy<\/em>, 1320), and that kind of lends itself to the heavier and darker stuff, and that\u2019s cool. Also, there\u2019s this Orpheus and <em>Underworld<\/em> myth. Both stories are very similar; both ideas are very similar. His wife dies and he\u2019s gonna go to hell and back to get her and save her, so there was a little bit of that emotional thing too. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo yeah, you could have these really dark, heavy songs with fires of hell and all of these kinds of things. That works, but then for the ballad\u2019y thing that doesn\u2019t work. So okay, here\u2019s the core of the story, which is going to hell and back for someone that you care about, so you do have a more emotional thing and on a ballad. Obviously, the guy\u2019s in a dark place and he\u2019s missing her, but she\u2019s not there. Those kinds of lyrics just fall into that category, and obviously with the music, the same thing \u2013 the music has that kind of thing. It\u2019s very melodic, but it\u2019s not too far off from what we normally do. It was great even recording it; listening back to some of the playbacks, I was like \u2018Yeah, man. This feels really good.\u2019 It kind of had that magic going on. It was definitely cool.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/symphonyx2015promophoto2.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><strong><em>Symphony X (l-r): Michael Pinnella, Michael Romeo, Russell Allen, Mike LePond <br \/>and Jason Rullo<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>Underworld<\/em>\u2019s lyrical content revolves around the namesake subject matter, causing some to assume this is a concept affair. \u201cI just like to think of it as a theme, just like the last record <em>Iconoclast<\/em> when this whole idea was like man versus machine,\u201d Michael shares. \u201cI think when we have some kind of a theme, you have that direction and you kind of have a goal to work towards. Yeah, the last record was <em>Iconoclast<\/em>, which was man versus machine. The riffs were more aggressive, and the vocals were a little more abrasive. Even the keyboard sounds were maybe a bit more mechanical, and the music was a little more relentless, and that\u2019s what that was. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor this one, it was like, okay, we had a different kind of palette to draw from here, but concept? When I think of a concept record, I think of telling a big story and that kind of thing. I think it\u2019s more like just a theme, but you can call it whatever it want. To me though, it\u2019s a theme thing. This whole going to hell and back for someone was the basis for most of the songs, so one song could be talking about the loss and one song could be talking about this and then this guy going to hell and back. Maybe one of the songs is touching on all of these hellish visions, and all of these things that he\u2019s going through. So yeah, I think it\u2019s more of a theme kind of a thing, an underlying theme. Not a story, a chronological kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Symphony X arrived at the underworld theme via the usual route. \u201cWe\u2019ll normally throw out a couple of ideas,\u201d the lyricist discloses. \u201cWith every record we do that, just to kind of get things rolling, to kind of get the creativity sparked a little. And yeah, that came up. I\u2019ve always been into that whole good and evil. I think it\u2019s always a good&#8230; The dark and light, that contrast kind of thing \u2013 that\u2019s always kind of a cool thing. With this one, it just seemed to work really good. That was just because we had talked about the diversity of the music, and having some lighter, melodic things, and having some real heavy stuff. It just seemed to work. So yeah, that came up pretty early on, very early on. We tried to get all of those things in place before we started writing, so yeah. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt helps to kind of have that little bit of a framework, where you kind of know where you\u2019re going with everything. There\u2019s nothing wrong with just writing tunes and then putting them together later \u2013 that\u2019s worked too \u2013 but with each and every album, we just try to do something a little different. We try to keep the music interesting, and try new things. So yeah, this one, it was a little different from the beginning \u2013 talking about the order, and that kind of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Albeit boasting fresh elements, <em>Underworld<\/em> possesses elements of Symphony X\u2019s previous eight outings. \u201cYeah, and that was something that we were conscious of,\u201d Michael tells. \u201cWe wanted to have just a balance, I think, which is a good word. We wanted to touch on some of the things that we\u2019ve done in the past; there are fans who do like the heavier, <em>Iconoclast<\/em> stuff and then are fans who like the more prog and the more melodic kind of thing, so we just tried to keep everything in there but still have the songs be new and fresh; still coming up with different riffs and still writing to make it new, but pulling here and there. I think fans will pick up on a lot of these different things that are in there. Just trying to keep it new, but still keeping it true to what we have always done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although venturing into fresh territory, <em>Underworld<\/em> is mindful of the past. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s musically anything too far removed, but like we were just talking about \u2013 like \u2018Without You\u2019,\u201d the performer cites. \u201cYeah, musically it\u2019s similar to things we\u2019ve done, but I just think in the arrangement and the writing of the song, that would be a good example. We were very focused on just the song itself; just trying to keep the song moving, and again, being conscious of the melody and the arrangement of the song. So that one, yeah, it is different. It is its own thing. There\u2019s definitely pieces of things we\u2019ve done, and little hints. It\u2019s typical of us, but maybe the arrangement and the melody is different. It\u2019s a catchy kind of song. Different, but still the same.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Focusing on the songs themselves, there was seemingly trimming of the fat, but Michael clarifies this actually wasn\u2019t the case. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t really much after the fact of going into just writing the songs,\u201d he informs. \u201cAgain, we had talked about really fine-tuning the songwriting. We knew that we would have some longer songs, and so there\u2019s a couple. \u2018Hell And Back\u2019 is ten minutes or something, and that\u2019s typical of us. It was like \u2018Yeah, we\u2019ll do that.\u2019 On that kind of song, yeah, you can noodle around a little bit and have some fun. With a song like \u2018Without You\u2019 though, there\u2019s no reason to make that ten minutes. We kept that one streamlined, and some of the other songs as well. But yeah, that was pretty much from the start. It was like \u2018Okay. On these songs, we\u2019ll have a little bit of fun.\u2019 I mean, we have fun on everything, obviously, but on these songs, yeah man \u2013 a little more adventurous with the arrangement. <\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedleft\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/symphonyx2015promophoto3.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><b><em>Symphony X (l-r): Mike LePond, Michael Pinnella, Michael Romeo, Russell Allen <br \/>and Jason Rullo<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cMaybe on these heavy songs though, yeah man, we just kept the riff going and kept the energy up. It didn\u2019t need to be 20 minutes. The ballad thing, it was like \u2018Okay, there\u2019s no need to drag it on. Get to the point, and have the song feel good.\u2019 We would just listen back, and be like \u2018Yeah, it feels good. Nothing should be added. Nothing should be taken away.\u2019 There was actually really no editing after the fact I don\u2019t think. No, it was pretty solid from the start. I think it goes back to having that direction, that road map, that framework of where you know what you\u2019re going for this time. It definitely helps. It definitely helps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maintaining energy can perhaps equally be said of Russell Allen\u2019s vocal contributions, which there was an emphasis on this time around. \u201cThat was another thing we talked about,\u201d the guitarist offers. \u201cIt was obviously the songs, like just fine-tuning the writing, and Russ had mentioned that he definitely wanted to get back into singing more \u2013 really concentrating on the melodies. Going in, usually we\u2019ll talk about these things. Before we do any writing, we get this whole idea together. Then the guys will let me go and do my thing, and I\u2019ll put the basic songs together. And yeah, I was conscious of that, Russ saying that he wanted to sing a little more. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think just by the nature of the songs being a little more fine-tuned&#8230; We had talked about melody and we had talked about the performance too, like really getting the best performance for each song. Like the song \u2018Without You\u2019; maybe instrumentally it\u2019s not really a difficult song to play, but it\u2019s more about how we played it than what we were playing on some of those songs. Yes, some are obviously a little more complicated, and you know we\u2019re having fun with the riffs and things. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo yeah, there was that thing of the melody, and the performance being a big part in all that like we had talked about early on \u2013 when the guys let me go and put the songs together. Yeah, I was thinking that Russ said he had wanted to sing a little more and go back to some of the more melodic things, and with some of those songs. Yeah, I had that in my mind; being conscious of his range, and writing in the right range, and that kind of thing. So yeah, all of these things along the way just&#8230; Like I said, just having that initial idea of what we were going to do instead of just writing whatever. That is still fine, but this one was a little different in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Recording sessions for <em>Underworld<\/em> took place under familiar circumstances. \u201cSame as we\u2019ve always done, or at least for the last few records,\u201d Michael remarks. \u201cWe do everything here at my place, and it\u2019s cool man. There\u2019s a comfortable atmosphere here. It\u2019s good that you don\u2019t have to worry about the clock, but at the same time, you\u2019re not worried about the clock. Things tend to take some time. You\u2019re trying different things, just from doing it for so many years. I\u2019ve always just been into recording, producing, and that kind of stuff. It just works out well, and it is a good atmosphere. The doors always open, man, so there\u2019s always somebody dropping by. If I\u2019m tracking LePond that day, I know Pinnella (Michael Pinnella, keyboards) will stop by with some coffee or something for everybody (laughs). <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like your own place; you can really relax and get it done, and make sure&#8230; I think everyone was really happy; the performances were really good, and everything was sounding good. Yeah, there was definitely some magic and some excitement with this one, and you could tell. It felt really good. It always feels good just hanging out and making music. With this one, there were some moments where I was like \u2018Wow, this is really good\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Warren Flanagan returned to design <em>Underworld<\/em>\u2019s cover artwork. \u201cWe have used Warren for the last two records, and he\u2019s a great guy,\u201d the axeman enthuses. \u201cHe works in that whole Hollywood&#8230; In the movies. He does all of the artwork for a lot of these big films, so he has that kind of cinematic thing going on, which is perfect for us. He knows what we do, and yeah, he just gets it. He gets what our thing is. Usually, there\u2019s not much conversation with him. With this one, it was no different. We talked to him for maybe about five minutes. We said \u2018Okay, we\u2019re gonna go with this Dante, Orpheus and the underworld thing. Musically, it\u2019s gonna be a little bit of everything we\u2019ve done; a lot of heavy stuff, some melodic stuff. Lyrically, it\u2019s going to be that going to hell and back for somebody.\u2019 Then he just kind of went off, and obviously did some research. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe came up with these nine symbols for the nine circles of hell. He did talk about the album cover, like bringing back the masks, and that sounded like a great idea. He had talked about the dark and the light, and the high contrast on the cover. He came up with that just kind of iconic thing, where there\u2019s the masks, and the contrast of the black on the white. Again, it just felt right. Just from working with us, he knew. He always does the right thing, and he\u2019s a very creative guy. You just point him in the direction that you\u2019re going for that record, and yeah, we\u2019re always happy with what he does. Always.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image floatedright\">\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-content\/themes\/metalforces\/images\/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/symphonyx_underworldlarge.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" align=\"center\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\">\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<div align=\"left\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<div align=\"right\"><span class=\"smalltext\"><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>A music video to promote <em>Underworld<\/em>\u2019s release is in the pipeline. \u201cIt\u2019s always money and everything else, but yeah, we\u2019re actually just talking about that now \u2013 what exactly we were gonna do,\u201d Michael imparts. \u201cEverything in the industry just changes so fast, so it\u2019s like \u2018Okay.\u2019 Now, the thing seems to be these lyric videos. Yeah though, we are talking about what we could do; what song we could do, what it\u2019s gonna cost obviously, and all of these other things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The songwriter refuses to be drawn on which tracks are being particularly considered. \u201cThe usual ones,\u201d he laughs. \u201cWe\u2019re still talking about it, because it depends on a lot of things. It might be bad to do a more ballad\u2019y song, but then maybe just a heavy song, or maybe even two. Like I said, we\u2019re just kind of figuring out what we\u2019re doing here. We\u2019re looking at touring, and looking at all these other kinds of things little by little.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One has to figure that which track will be presented in visual format is a two-horse race between \u2018Nevermore\u2019 and \u2018Without You\u2019, for which official lyric videos have already been created. \u201cYeah, but you never know,\u201d Michael stresses. \u201cWhen the record comes out, it could be a song that people really react to. I think people are reacting to those songs, so yeah, they would probably be the obvious choices I think, but you never know. There could be some&#8230; I personally like every song on the record. I think every song for what it is is really strong \u2013 they\u2019re good tunes \u2013 but everybody has a different opinion. People like different things, so you never know. There might be a song that we overlooked where people are like \u2018Oh my God, this is the best song,\u2019 blah blah blah. So yeah, it is tough. Even for like the lyric videos and things, it is tough to find a song on an album that was written as an album. To single one or two out that represent the record, I think that that\u2019s really difficult. Especially with this one, it\u2019s pretty difficult. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe \u2018Without You\u2019 song was first, but the general feeling would be \u2018Oh, this album\u2019s gonna be really mellow\u2019 (laughs), which it\u2019s not. Or, if you put a song like \u2018Kiss Of Fire\u2019 out there as a video \u2013 which is bordering thrash \u2013 it\u2019s like \u2018Oh my God. The album\u2019s too heavy.\u2019 Trying to find one song, it\u2019s tough \u2013 or two, even. It\u2019s pretty tough. It all goes back to what I was saying about the record being really written as a record as a whole. Every song is a piece of the puzzle. Trying to take a couple out? It\u2019s not the same puzzle any more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Underworld<\/em> was released on July 24th, 2015 via Nuclear Blast Records.<\/p>\n<p><em>Interview published in July 2015. All promotional photographs by Danny Sanchez.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SYMPHONY X &#8211; Hell And Back Anthony Morgan July 2015 Symphony X (l-r): Michael Pinnella, Michael Romeo, Russell Allen, Mike LePond and Jason Rullo In penning tracks for each respective full-length, the individual members of New Jersey-based progressive metal outfit Symphony X collectively discuss several ideas which could be potentially fleshed out as well as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,2415],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-symphony-x"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35337"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43965,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35337\/revisions\/43965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}