SYMPHONY X Frontman Talks About Forthcoming 'Paradise Lost' CD

Metal Asylum recently conducted an interview with SYMPHONY X frontman Russell Allen. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Metal Asylum: So it has been a while since SYMPHONY X put out a record ("The Odyssey" released in 2002). You recently started doing some shows in support of the new album "Paradise Lost" which will be out on June 26. How did those first two shows go?

Russell: Those shows went great man, the New York show was sold out and we had a lot of international press in attendance, like thirty-plus, people from Italy, Germany, it was great. It was an opportunity to say "SYMPHONY X is back." The crowd was awesome they were singing all the songs, it was definitely a metal night. The Puerto Rico show was cool but it was just hot in front of like twenty-five hundred in an amphitheater, the heat was brutal.

Metal Asylum: How long have you guys been actually working on "Paradise Lost"?

Russell: Probably around two years but with the tour opportunities that arose during that time, like Gigantour, it set us back every time when we tried to finish the record. So when Mike Romeo (guitars) started writing the songs he said it was going into a darker direction. Like Mike said, the title track to "Paradise Lost" was going to be like "The Odyssey". So after he started working it out, it was rather killer, and I said, "What's on the rest of the record then?" With that we decided to record something that really had an energy to it from beginning to end. But it took us a while to get the right vibe, we needed the right lyrics and wanted each song to have their own thing. We weren't going for a concept thing with this album — it has more of a common theme that runs through the entire record. The good-and-evil, heaven-and-hell thing that exists in all of us, you know. It's not a particular Adam and Eve story; more or less we wanted to assimilate that into an every human being saga and the internal every person goes through on a daily basis. That's why the lyrics are very potent, but very general in a way that they can pertain to anybody. We tried to put a kind of "Star Wars" spin on it and I think that's why the angel on the cover has a futuristic look and we didn't want the demons to have a traditional pitch fork look and that. So the artwork has a bit of a modern look to it and we wanted the lyrics to reflect that. The album touches upon betrayal, revenge, lusting for power — it's a very dark passionate album.

Metal Asylum: Your vocals on this record are more aggressive than usual. Which songs do you find you used the more aggressive style and sound?

Russell: Yeah its only on the ones that really need it. Like "Domination" is the heaviest, you have "Set the World on Fire" which is about a guy who is dealing his own personal issues and it's like he's looking in the mirror. I was also thinking of and picturing like maybe the evil demon on the mound or dictators from history like how Hitler or Stalin gave speeches, like Darth Vader saying "You don't know the power of the dark side." You know stuff I could really get into to give the tracks the vibe they needed. It needed to be heavy. "Walls of Babylon" has a little bit of heaviness to it, the "Seven" tune is obviously seven deadly sins which needed it, wherever it needed the sauce I went for it. The thing with me is I'm not like these younger guys who scream and yell and I don't feel I have to its just not me, call me old school or whatever. I grew up with IRON MAIDEN and those bands and to me the singing thing is where it's at. As long as there is a melody I can be as heavy as I can be getting my point across without being something I am not or changing our sound. I mean I don't do the heavier vocals to piss the fans off its just what was needed for the song and I think it sound killer. And I do like the music from these bands like a KILLSWITCH ENGAGE because they mix it up with the vocals but this whole screaming thing is so trendy its gonna go away ya know. People are saying "Oh, these newer bands are drawing their roots back to PANTERA," but you know what Phil (Anselmo, former PANTERA vocalist) had a voice, man, and people gloss over that fact. It's always gonna be cool to sing I don't care what people say. Look I'm not trying to bag those guys — they do what they do, and if they are feeling that, so be it. But I don't have to scream to show you anger and that I'm pissed in my music. I just try to keep within the realm of the melodic structure, because if you don't, then it kinda gets into rap, like screaming rap like LIMP BIZKIT — you know, metalcore. Hey, you know, it's an artform, whether you are into the abstract or the more eloquent — it's your pick.

Metal Asylum: Are there any new instruments or sounds to be heard on "Paradise Lost"?

Russell: Not really. I know Mike Romeo did a few things with his guitar tones and texturing more than on the "Odyssey". Like on the last song he broke out a Stratocaster, he used some other guitar tones that were not the norm for him. Maybe a few beefier sounds from the microphone, no matter where you go in the mix the vocals really cut right through. The symphonic stuff really was a big deal also, because technology got to a point, like you can hear these gothic vocals in "Domination" and for the intro for "Set the World on Fire" you can hear them. They are human voices but were modeled in the computer and Romeo is really a master of all that stuff. And sometimes I will sing with it to give it more of that human feel but really I think the symphonic stuff is what's really popping on this album and coming to life more than any other of our records.

Read the entire interview at Metal Asylum.