Symphony X Comes To Tropical Butantã August 7th

Symphony X will perform at Tropical Butantã on August 7th. To most progressive heavy-metal fans symphony x is one of the genre-defining bands, breaking the ground with their powerful sound since the very early dawns back in 1994. Unlike the majority of progressive rockers they managed to keep their original line-up through the years relatively unchanged. The same can be said for their sound concept: a coherent mix of all instruments, dominated by Michael Romeo's unmistakable riffs and the brilliant voice of Russell Allen. I was happy to enjoy them live in a small club venue as well at the big stage of Wacken Open Air. Without any sophisticated visual effects or preludes they start to rock by rule with a killer from their last album (like 'The End of Innocence'). They play with almost no breaks between the songs, giving the impression that they aim to give us as much as possible from their invigorating music. Furthermore, through the whole setlist the sound is as perfect as in studio originals. In general I am very picky about singers, but Allen's singing live is close to perfection all the time. He is charging positively the whole atmosphere with his confident attitude as a frontman (as well showing off his muscular body).

Their playlist strategy is: half of the pieces from their last two albums, relying on the shorter and speedy energetic ones (for example Eve of Seduction or the absolute killer riff of Serpent's Kiss). They dampen the sweaty speed only for one or two ballads for a setlist two hours long. For example they do a heart-melting acoustic piano-and-voice-only version of "When all is lost". At the end they slay it with a devastating overdose of 3-4 absolute classics one after each other like 'Sea of Lies' or 'Of Sins and Shadows'.

The final 'Set the world on fire' (played even a bit faster than the original) resounded so strong in me that I was feeling like I want to follow the lyrics and fly away. After the concerts I saw them willing to talk to fans, realizing that the gods of 'Symphony X' are mere human beings like us.

Prior to the earliest incarnation of Symphony X, songwriter and guitarist Michael Romeo recorded a solo studio album "The Dark Chapter" in 1994. Featuring keyboard player Michael Pinnella, the album proved a popular release in Japan, and Romeo subsequently invited bassist Thomas Miller, drummer Jason Rullo, and vocalist Rod Tyler to complete the lineup. The group, having settled on the moniker Symphony X, recorded their eponymous, debut album in 1994, which once again found favour in Japan. With little time lost, Symphony X issued their sophomore album "The Damnation Game" six months later in 1995, following which singer Rod Tyler was replaced by Russell Allen.

Symphony X's third full-length, "The Divine Wings of Tragedy", marked an increase in international recognition for the group, notably in Europe. The critically acclaimed release made waves in metal circles and was followed by "Twilight in Olympus" in 1998. With four studio albums to their name Symphony X had accumulated a huge international following without having played a single live show. That changed however in 1998 with a debut show in Japan and a subsequent world tour, marked by the departure of bassist Thomas Miller. Duties were taken over by Michael Lepond who recorded on Symphony X's fifth studio album "V: The New Mythology Suite" released in 2000. It was the band's first concept album, relating to the myth of Atlantis, and also their major-label debut for InsideOut Music. A supporting European and South American tour followed, after which Symphony X issued their debut live album "Live on the Edge of Forever" in November 2001.

In 2002 the full-length "The Odyssey" earned its release charting at No. 67 on the French Albums Chart. Marking their biggest hiatus to date, it wasn't until 2007 that Symphony X released new material, resulting in their greatest success to date "Paradise Lost". Peaking at No. 60 on the French Albums Chart as well as finding the charts in the U.S. and the UK, the record was critically acclaimed and loosly based on the John Milton epic poem of the same name. Once again proving their most successful album the date, 2011's "Iconoclast" received widespread critical acclaim upon release and cemented Symphony X as pioneers of progressive metal.

Tickets are now available at http://www.tropicalbutanta.com.br.

To post a comment, you must register and login.