Actually, the time was ripe for a new Symphony X album. But last year, the progmetallers from New Jersey took time out. Almost all band members then jumped into other projects. In summer, Russell Allen's band Adrenaline Mob had a terrible touring bus accident in which two people died and Allen has not yet fully recovered from its consequences. For guitarist Michael Romeo there was inevitably a window of opportunity to try something new with "War Of The Worlds".
eclipsed: Michael, could"War Of The Worlds" also display the Symphony X logo?
Yes and no. Of course I can't deny my style, but due to the electronic elements and the strong focus on orchestral passages the album has a very own character.
eclipsed: Were there differences in songwriting?
QUEEN - Their 50 biggest songs
Queen emphasized throughout their career that they are essentially a hard rock band. In fact, the English kept increasing the hardness of their songs as much as they liked. And yet there is hardly a formation of its caliber that has tried its hand in so many different genres. This stylish heterogeneity is also reflected in our ranking of the 50 greatest songs of the pomp quartet.
CARLOS SANTANA - The Sound of the World
Musicians and fans of Symphony X had to recover from this board. With "Iconoclast", probably the hardest of their eight studio albums, the US-Americans around frontman Russell Allen, guitarist Michael Romeo and keyboarder Michael Pinnella had polarized four years ago. The symphonic metal of the fiver never sounded so uncompromising until now, for some fans the direction was promptly too brute.
The focus of the interview with guitarist Michael Romeo is first of all on the health situation of the band. After bassist Michael Lepond apparently had his Crohn's disease well under control in recent years, the news that drummer Jason Rullo had to be admitted to a hospital with heart failure in spring 2013 shocked him. The 47-year-old bandleader with Italian ancestors fortunately gives the all-clear.
Michael Romeo: Jason is doing very well again. He also recorded the drums on "Underworld" and will go on tour with us. He has been in rehab for several months and his doctors are very confident that he is completely cured. In principle, playing drums is even beneficial for him, because the heart is strengthened again.
eclipsed: "Underworld" is not a concept work in the classical sense, but there is a central theme throughout the album.
VENNART - Infatuate (5:08)
Album: The Demon Joke
Label/Distribution: Superball/Universal mikevennart.tumblr.com
Mike Vennart, the former Oceansize front man and current tour guitarist of Biffy Clyro, invites on his solo debut to a gripping, quirky and interlaced trip between prog, noise and quiet stuff to breathe a sigh of relief. An extremely artistic sound odyssey that quickly captivates the listener.
PINK FLOYD
flight with unknown destination
On August 4th 1967 the first longplayer of the underground size Pink Floyd appeared in Great Britain with "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn". In the same year the singles "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play" had already caused a sensation. This year was one of the most groundbreaking in the history of the band. Floyd expert Glenn Povey documents this time in the following exclusive excerpt from his exquisite biography "Echoes", which has just been published in England.
RINGO STARR
"I'm the greatest!"
