Warthur Symphony X's Divine Wings of Tragedy combines the complex song structures and love affair with synthesisers of prog metal and combines it with the sheer over the top cheese factor of power metal. The resultant blend is certainly not for everyone, and some listeners - and I'll readily admit I'm one of them - will find themselves turned off by the band's gleeful disregard for restraint or tastefulness, but then again other listeners would regard that as a plus. On the whole, three stars seems fare - if it's the sort of thing you like, you might like it a lot, but it's a very acquired taste.

The Angry Scotsman The first of a few masterpieces by Symphony X

Here the band has perfected their sound, progressive metal influenced by power metal and tinged with neo classical. This is pretty much a perfect album, every song is great and there are no weak moments from start to finish. The compositions are awesome, heavily progressive with every band member working together perfectly, playing their role yet still getting to showcase their great talent. Allen's vocals finally hit their stride. he has amazing range, sings with power, and always fits the music. He never over does it, and shows some variation...two things that often elude other singers in the operatic style. Overall, Allen has a bit more of a scruffy streak in his singing that really makes it. Of course the album is packed with awesome riffing, dueling guitar and keyboard solos, epic choirs, synth laden backgrounds, and pushed along with effective and subtle drumming as they navigate progressive song structures.

All the songs are great, so instead of describing them I recommend you listen to the album, though some stand outs need to be mentioned. "The Accolade" is THE definition of progressive metal, and of the best songs ever made by the band. Well textured and really moves, but with direction, like a river and doesn't drift aimlessly. The last third of this song is quite unique and has one of the most intricate and beautiful sections of music I've heard.

The title track is a 20 minute prog metal epic, that truly takes you across the universe. It has everything and the first listen will leave you clueless as to what will happen next. It really does throw everything at you including some seriously groovy, melodic, and off tempo sections! The middle part is mindblowing, very unique and solos by everyone! After that journey the album ends with "Candlelight Fantasia" a much lighter and melodic song.

A masterpiece of prog metal

FIVE STARS

Phonebook Eater Progressive/Power Metal perfection.

Symphony X's third album is the way to go for Michael Romeo and company. "The Divine Wings Of Tragedy" is so far the best album to date by the band, and most definitely one of the finest opuses in the Prog Metal genre.

In this album, the band reproduces many influences,unlike the first two albums; from the usual theatrical melodies, to the powerful, heavy riffs accompanied by a very virtuous bass guitar and keyboards, to again some arabic and east european moods that here and there are present. The artists are all at the peak of their capacities: always unforgettable the duels in the solos between the wild keyboards and the guitar, and every now and then the bass gives us some crazy strains that even John Myung might envy. Russell Allen has never had after this a voice this emotional, melodic, and pure, without never being too hard and rough like he will be in the following albums.

"The Divine Wings Of Tragedy" seems to be a hymn of theatrical expression; it's an opera, with some mythological and ancient, medieval tastes,( like Dante or Classical music), of passion, violent, but still very haunting. Even lyrically speaking lyricist Russell Allen writes about medieval times, having many influences from different authors of this period.

The songs are just amazing, not one bad one; especially concerning the epic 20 minute title track, the best Symphony X track ever, since everything of it is absolutely perfect, from the intro choir, to the beautiful piano and guitar passages, to the heavy riffs and the virtuous keyboards. Then, when the song is over, you ask yourself where those twenty minutes have gone. The other long song, "The Accolade" (almost ten minutes), has more delicate passages, and never get's too heavy. Certainly not as eclectic as the title track, but still quite impressive. even the shorter songs( the catchy and fast opening track "Of Sins and Shadows", the somewhat edgy "Sea Of Lies", the memorable "Out of The Ashes", the technical triumphs of "Pharaoh" the tense and mysterious "The Eyes Of Medusa" ) have all breathtaking moments, without any flat and tired ones.

An extremely original masterpiece, one of a kind in this genre, very overlooked by many music snobs, that should start considering for their own good bands like Symphony X and albums like "The Divine Wings Of Tragedy".

SouthSideoftheSky The divine music of Symphony X

This brilliant album kicks off excellently with Of Sins And Shadows. The song starts in an interesting way and it is clear right away that this is not conventional Metal music. During the first track alone we are treated to a Yes' Close To The Edge-like vocal break, a Brian May-like guitar break, a Queen-like operatic vocal section, a guitar/keyboard duel strongly influenced by the ones between Yngwie Malmsteen and Jens Johansson in Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force. With all this going on they still manage to keep the song focused on the strong melody and riff.

The lead guitar playing of Michael Romeo is obviously and most strongly influenced by Yngwie Malmsteen's style, but also influences from Brian May, Ritchie Blackmore and other guitar heroes can be detected. Romeo is able to mimic Malmsteen well, and very few other people (if any!) could do that. As I said, the reoccurring guitar/keyboard duels very often sound like those between Malmsteen and Jens Johansson in Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force. A side note: Romeo actually played together with Jens Johansson on an album called The Last Viking by a group simply called Johansson which is led by Jens and his brother Anders Johansson. A great album by the way!

However, even if the guitar and keyboard sound often is highly derivative, Romeo and keyboardist Michael Pinella incorporate this influence into an often quite different musical framework making the end result quite original, after all. The overall musical influences on Symphony X's music probably include Queen and Rainbow as well as Power Metal and Neo-Classical Metal. Anyway, this music is more epic, elaborated, progressive and complex than anything ever done by Yngwie Malmsteen (even if some of his material is clearly progressive in my opinion).

The vocals of Russell Allen have a wide range from quite gruff to almost falsetto and it is clear that he is a very competent vocalist. Freddie Mercury, Ronnie James Dio and Bruce Dickinson might be good reference points for the vocal style involved (even if Allen is hardly as distinctive as those rock icons).

After the opening track, the album continues with two further high-powered, melodious songs with great heavy riffs and lots of things going on. Out Of The Ashes is strongly Neo-Classical and I love that kind of stuff! The Accolade is the first song of the album that slows the tempo down and it offers a welcome respite from the onslaught of the first three tracks. This almost 10 minute piece is perhaps not exactly a ballad though, but in relation to the other songs it might perhaps be called a ballad. It speeds up a bit after a while and transforms several times, it is clearly the song that comes closest to classic Symphonic Prog. It features violin and reminds a bit of Kansas at times. I find this song quite brilliant and it clearly contributes to making this album as varied and diverse as it is.

Pharaoh, The Eyes Medusa and The Witching Hour once again raise the tempo and again the third of these is the most strongly Neo-Classical. The acoustic beginning of this song is fantastic, but once again it could have come straight off one of Yngwie Malmsteen's better albums.

The 20+ minute title track begins with a somewhat sacral, yet strongly Queen-like a cappella vocal section. Then enters a marching beat and heavy riff and on top of that some Brian may-like guitar notes. This epic song then moves us trough all the different aspects of the band including some somewhat surprising Jazz-Rock Fusion influences! It is in this track where Symphony X reminds the most of their biggest competitors Dream Theater, but not that much I would say. At first I thought this was the weakest part of the album, but it grew on me after some listens.

The album ends with a lovely song in Candlelight Fantasia that might be labelled a ballad. It has a very strong vocal melody that will leave humming for the rest of the day. This is based on a lovely vocal and piano. But it also includes a few surprises. A great way to end the album!

I did not like the music of Symphony X very much at first, I used to find them a bit cheesy and far too bombastic and over the top. However, I got used to it after some listens and now I find the cheesyness and bombast rather charming!

The Divine Wings Of Tragedy is Symphony X's best album and probably the best album of its kind!

Valarius After two great albums Symphony X released what I believe to be their greatest achievement, ‘The Divine Wings of Tragedy’.

Fans of Dream Theater and other Progressive Metal bands will like what Symphony X have to offer and this album has it all on display in full. Michael Romeo's awesome neo-classical guitar playing is some of the best you will ever hear, and his dueling with Keyboard player Michael Pinella is on the same level as John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess. And Russell Allen's agressive yet melodic vocals have yet to be matched.

Although every song on this album is a classic, I think the main two to look out for are ‘The Accolade’ and the title track. Both full of amazing twists and turns, taking you on a whole new musical experience. And songs like the ‘Eyes of Medusa’ work perfectly with Romeo's heavy, crunchy guitar and Pinella's melodic keyboards.

Most Prog Metal, and most Metal people in general, will like this. And old-school Prog Rock fans may even enjoy some of Symphony X’s softer moments too.