MICHAEL ROMEO
The Symphony X man goes solo – with added dubstep.
Despite having spent nearly 25 years as guitarist and chief driving force behind Symphony X, not to mention being one of the most revered shredders on the planet, Michael Romeo has never actually made a solo record before. This may explain why War Of The Worlds, Part 1 sounds like a bloody great bomb going off for a full, breathless 54 minutes.
Every bit as overblown and epic as its mischievous title suggests, this is prog metal at its heaviest, but with a cinematic streak a mile wide, and several eccentric detours that firmly separate this from Romeo’s day job.
Long-time fans will be more than comfortable with the majority of the music on War Of The Worlds, Part 1. The opening Introduction is a riot of dark Disney orchestration, spiralling tech metal histrionics and a general sense of impending chaos. Meanwhile, Fear The Unknown is an exhilarating slab of prime Michael Romeo metal that’s not a million miles from the mothership, but with Rick Castellano’s vocals nudging the interstellar rudder in a new direction. Similarly, Black is a brooding, prog thrash monolith, as murderously heavy as anything on Symphony X’s 2015 album Underworld but full of subtle quirks and lead breaks that twist and warp in unexpected ways.
Quite what the faithful will make of Fucking Robots is anyone’s guess, though. Augmented with more orchestral eruptions and precise, propulsive riffs, it’s the startling and potentially divisive sound of Michael Romeo plunging into the world of speaker-shattering dubstep.
Much as Muse did on their sixth studio album The
2nd Law in 2012, the guitarist’s harnessing of something that will almost certainly freak a few people out is used sparingly: the wub-wub of glowstick-friendly sub-bass doesn’t appear again, but its presence here injects a gently thrilling sense of anarchy into an otherwise sterling exercise in delivering the goods.
There are plenty of other stunning moments on War Of The Worlds, Part 1: Djinn’s seven meandering minutes are as perfect an example of this strain of progressive metal’s imaginative potential; Believe is a gargantuan, gothic ballad that provides the versatile Castellano with a perfect showcase; and War Machine is a riff-driven but intricate alien onslaught worthy of HG Wells’ titular tale.
Everything sounds immaculate and Romeo’s playing is mind-blowing throughout. It may have taken him three decades, but he’s nailed it first time out and delivered an album of preposterous brilliance. Roll on Part 2.
PROG METAL AT ITS HEAVIEST, BUT WITH A CINEMATIC STREAK.