RUSSELL ALLEN On Next SYMPHONY X Album: 'We Are Pretty Far Into It In Terms Of The Amount Of Material We Have Now'

In a new interview with Ed Hack of This Day In Metal, SYMPHONY X singer Russell Allen spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's long-awaited follow-up to 2015's "Underworld" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Tons of music has been written by [SYMPHONY X guitarist Michael] Romeo and stuff, and lyrics by the guys — some lyrics myself, Mike and Mike [LePond, SYMPHONY X bassist]. And we are pretty far into it in terms of the amount of material we have now.

"We haven't booked anything else [touring-wise] for the rest of the year," Russell continued. So we're gonna spend the next five months, or whatever it is, to get this thing done. It's been a lot of years in the making. Mike Romeo's at a — I almost wanna say [he's coming up with] God-level orchestration sort of stuff. The guy's just, like, phew. And I'm so proud of him, because when we were kids, I heard that. I said, 'Hey, I know you're a killer guitar player, and this is so important to you guys.' But I said, 'Bro, you can score, man. You can do this.' And I was just always wanting him to put more symphony in SYMPHONY X, man. So he went full-on, and he's really, really good at it. He's doing movie stuff now. I mean, the guy's just a straight-up badass composer. And so I'm super proud of him. And I'm really excited for the world to hear what he's cooked up on the music end for this new album."

Allen added: "So that's what we're doing. We're working on it now. We took a couple of weeks off. I'm gonna start with them probably this next week or so. Give everybody a chance to decompress, and then we're gonna start digging in. I'm ready. I'm in the studio. This is my little dungeon in my place. Mike's got his. So that's what we're doing."

Asked about the lyrical direction of the new SYMPHONY X material and if there "a theme or a concept emerging" at this point, Russell said: "Yes, there's totally a concept thing emerging. And I'm not gonna give anything away. It's not gonna surprise anyone. I mean, we are what we are. But it's really great, and I'm excited about it, because, again, the themes are just the themes."

He continued: "If you've noticed, I pull more on the first-person perspective… So I always like to gravitate towards things that tell more the feeling of the character. And so that way I can kind of relate to it on a personal level and bring some of that personal touch. So that's kind of where we're at, and that's where I'm at. And so I'm hoping to bring more of that sort of like really intense personal-touch stuff to this record."

In October 2024, Romeo told the "Coffee With Ola" podcast about the upcoming SYMPHONY X LP: "With us, it's not like, 'Oh, yeah, we're just gonna write one — how do you say? — single, and then just have a bunch of filler. It's, like, everything's gotta be as good as it can be. So, yeah, it gets harder and it takes longer. Then you throw in COVID and a bunch of other things, and then it's just, like, 'Oh, shit.' Now it's, like, I don't know — eight years or something. I lost track.

"What's different now than in the past is that we could take a bunch of time off. There would be some royalties from CDs back in the day coming in and kind of float on the downtime and really get the record done and then come back out [with a] new record, tour. So now it's, like, well, that money's gone. So we have to tour a little bit, keep things going, work on the record, go back out. So it's been like that for a while. And for me — I do most of the writing, so for me it's hard because you're sitting in the studio for whatever month, 'I got this idea,' and you're trying to put these things together, and it's, like, 'Oh, we've gotta go on tour now.' All right, cool. We do our thing. And then you come back, and it's, like, 'What the fuck was I working on again? Was this riff here?' And so you're trying to arrange all this stuff. And then you're, like, 'Oh, I've got all these new ideas.' So then you keep adding. And then after a long period of time, it's, like, 'Oh my god, there's so much stuff I can't even manage it now.' Plenty of material — like three hours of stuff — but now it's actually making sense."

Elaborating on when SYMPHONY X might be done composing the material for the next album, Michael said: "It's gonna take some time to organize everything. It's not like there's nothing there. It's [not], like, 'Oh, man, we have to start from scratch.' There's quite a bit. It's actually overwhelming. I never remember being this overwhelmed by the amount of stuff, 'cause over the last year and a half or whatever, every time there was a break, it's, like, 'Okay, I'll write something.' I didn't stop and [go], like, 'Well, let me finish this.' It was, like, boom, 'I got all these ideas,' and I just kept going. So now it's, like, all right, no more writing. Now more arranging."

Romeo released his latest solo album, "War Of The Worlds Pt. 2", in March 2022 via InsideOut Music. The record featured guest vocals by Dino Jelusick (WHITESNAKE, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA).

Russell recently released a deeply personal new ballad titled "Love Her Like I Do (Ava's Song)" in recognition of Autism Awareness Month.

"Love Her Like I Do (Ava's Song)" is a heartfelt track which offers an intimate glimpse into Allen's experience as a father raising a daughter on the autism spectrum, delivering a moving message of empathy, acceptance, and unconditional love.

"Love Her Like I Do (Ava's Song)" reflects the emotional journey of watching his daughter grow, navigate social challenges, and find her place in the world. The song blends Allen's signature vocal intensity with a tender, vulnerable performance, resulting in one of the most personal recordings of his career.