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Symphony X - Biography


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1994-

Biography

Symphony X hail from New Jersey, USA and were founded there in April 1994. Guitarist Michael Romeo had already been receiving a lot of praise and attention for his self produced solo-tape "The Dark Chapter", which eventually led to the birth of Symphony X. Joining Michael at first was bass player Thomas Miller, who had played with Michael on numerous occasions in the past. Soon after that, vocalist Rod Tyler and drummer Jason Rullo were recruited and finally with the arrival of Michael Pinnella, the Symphony X line up was complete and ready to record their first album.

Their first self titled offering was recorded in Autumn 1994 and was subsequently released in Japan in December of the same year. The album immediately made a big impression on fans of the progressive metal scene all over the world and achieved excellent reviews in Japan.

Only eight months after the release of their debut album, Symphony X recorded and released their second album "The Damnation Game". The beginning of 1995 saw the band part ways with vocalist Rod Tyler and Russell Allen was soon chosen as his replacement. With their majestic vocal harmonies and classical overtones, the band pushed the boundaries of Progressive Music and spearheaded a new direction in the genre. The reactions of both fans and press alike to the album was very enthusiastic and the band were beginning to generate a world-wide positive awareness.

Towards the end of 1996 Symphony X began work on their magnum opus "The Divine Wings Of Tragedy". Whilst the previous album had still shown a lot of obvious influences, "Divine Wings..." really showed the band had come into their own at last. The album also made a huge impression on the European press with tracks like The Accolade and the 20 minute title track poised to become classics of their genre. In readers polls of all the major rock magazines Symphony X scored high with the album and the press showered the band with praise. "Divine Wings..." was soon regarded as one of the best albums of its genre for 1997. The band had by now eclipsed many of the other acts on the scene achieving sales in excess of 100,000 in Japan alone!

Not content to sit back and bask in their glories, the band set off to write and record a follow up that came in early 1998. Entitled "Twilight In Olympus" the album soon proved to be yet another milestone in the band's ever evolving career. Sales were incredibly strong along with the usual excellent reviews in the rock press and the call for a European tour beckoned. Symphony X crossed the Atlantic for a three week jaunt across Europe with English band Mindfeed as support. The tour proved to be quite a success with sell out performances in Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Italy and France strengthening the band's already growing legion of fans. The band went back in the studio in their native New Jersey busily writing what is surely a Symphony X masterpiece - 'V: The ew Mythology Suite'.

This concept album enhanced the image of the band and opened a lot of closed doors for this US-based band, especialy in Europe. The groundbreaking work captured in 'V' is to this day only topped by their latest and heaviest 2002's 'The Odyssey', while the band previously released their first official live album after intensive touring to promote their masterpiece 'V'.

A new album is due for the end of 2004 and you can expect once again tremendous musicianship!