SYMPHONY X To Play 'Longer' Set On Upcoming Tour

North America's progressive metal masterminds SYMPHONY X would like to assure everyone that their upcoming North American headlining tour will still go on as planned. In fact, SYMPHONY X will now be playing a longer set for their fans who have been eagerly waiting to see the band perform live again since 2008. Still joining SYMPHONY X on the road beginning on April 21 in Philadelphia and through May 22 in West Springfield, Virginia are Boston's POWERGLOVE and Montreal's BLACKGUARD.

Commented SYMPHONY X guitarist and founding member Michael Romeo: "Some of you may be disappointed that SOILWORK, and just recently NEVERMORE, left the tour; we share your frustration. We were looking forward to taking such a great lineup out on the road, but shit happens; best of luck to those bands in the future. That being said, we're still psyched about getting back on the road and giving the fans a full-on, killer show every night. We plan on doing some tracks from our upcoming CD, 'Iconoclast', and are really excited to be playing them for our North American fans for the first time ever. It's going to be awesome!"

SYMPHONY X's ninth studio album, "Iconoclast", will be released in Europe on June 17 and in North America on June 21 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Illustrator and film concept artist Warren Flanagan ("Watchmen", "The Incredible Hulk", "2012") is the talent behind the album artwork. He states, "The idea was to create imagery that was a little darker in tone to previous SYMPHONY X albums and to represent the overall theme of 'Iconoclast' into the artwork. The whole concept came from [SYMPHONY X guitarist] Mike [Romeo], who had a strong idea of what the cover should represent based off the music. I just ran with it. When the album's title was decided on, I focused the image based on the meaning of it. I also wanted to use the band's signature 'masks' but present them in a way that connected to the new album."

SYMPHONY X founder and lead guitarist Michael Romeo has the following to say about Flanagan's art: "We worked with Warren on the last CD, 'Paradise Lost', and have a good relationship with him. When I talk to Warren about artwork ideas, a lot of times we end up making comparisons to films and movies. With the new CD, 'Iconoclast', the music and lyrics have a darker mechanical/technological theme, and I remember us talking about scenes from films like 'The Matrix' and 'Terminator'. From there, we sent him some songtitles and lyrics (songs like 'Dehumanized', 'Bastards Of The Machine', 'Electric Messiah') and just let Warren run with the ball. He has a great imagination and style, and he totally gets what we are trying to convey with the music."

The track listing for the jewel-cased version of "Iconoclast" is:

01. Iconoclast
02. The End Of Innocence
03. Dehumanized
04. Bastards Of The Machine
05. Heretic
06. Children Of A Faceless God
07. Electric Messiah
08. Prometheus (I Am Alive)
09. When All Is Lost

The track listing for the 2-CD special edition digipak version of "Iconoclast" is:

CD 1:

01. Iconoclast
02. The End Of Innocence
03. Dehumanized
04. Bastards Of The Machine
05. Heretic
06. Children Of A Faceless God
07. When All Is Lost

CD 2:

01. Electric Messiah
02. Prometheus (I Am Alive)
03. Light Up The Night
04. The Lords Of Chaos
05. Reign In Madness

Video footage of SYMPHONY X performing two brand new songs, "The End Of Innocence" and "Dehumanized", on February 28, 2011 at Élysée Montmartre in Paris, France can be viewed below.