SYMPHONY X — Twilight In Olympus (review)

SYMPHONY X — Twilight In Olympus album cover Album · 1998 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
The Angry Scotsman
Another solid album by Symphony X

There's very little to complain about here, it's really a very good album. My only knock on it is, while excellent it is unspectacular. This album is classic Symphony X, power driven progressive metal that has all the staples. That's just it, nothing new here. This isn't exactly a bad thing since their standard is so good, but it can't be anything more than a really good Symphony X album. Also, "Twilight in Olympus" is a bit lighter than Divine Wings, so it lacks a bit of punch and it is overall a bit more straightforward. Now, don't get me wrong this is certainly progressive, however it has more of a straight up power metal feel than previous albums.

This is evident with "Smoke and Mirrors" which starts off by kicking your ass but carries on fairly straight after that. This is countered by "Church of the Machine" with its eerie into and overall slower pace. The choruses are epic.

"Sonata" is a classical segue, letting us relax before the pummeling known as "In the Dragon's Den". Awesome song, some of Allen's best vocal work and a real stand out on the album. "Through the Looking Glass" is a 13 minute sprawling song that runs the gamut, incorporating everything the band is in a very well composed manner. Another standout song.

"The Relic" is a fairly ferocious song with some really cool sections and melodies. "Orion-The Hunter" has great rhythm, one of the groovier songs, progressive, complete with wild off tempo section. The album ends with "Lady in the Snow" the most melodic on the album, never reaching power metal speeds and without shred solos. Powerful and wonderful song. Another strong album finale.

"Twilight in Olympus" doesn't break any ground but is a strong album and should satisfy any fan of Symph X or prog metal. The musicianship is tight, though it should be noted Jason Rullo didn't play on this album, shame since is a criminally underrated, (or probably unknown) drummer, but Tom Walling does an incredible job here.

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UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I´ve always wondered why they didn´t have better sound productions on the first couple of albums, but thankfully the last couple of albums are much better in that regard. Still Twilight is a great album IMO.
The Angry Scotsman wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Ha! I shall agree again, here the production actually did detract a little bit for me. As I said, there's no punch, as cool as the music is sometimes it sounds so thin
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Yeah it really is a fantastic album. I´ve always had a slight issue with the sound production though. And yes it´s exactly the same comment I made for your Divine Wings...review :-)

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