Twilight in Olympus

Twilight in Olympus is a collection of excellent progressive metal, filled with tons of overwhelming solos and catchy riffs. To come up with such a diverse, uncompromising album only one year after the monumental Divine Wings Of Tragedy, is quite admirable. There is not much of a change in style compared to former albums, yet this album maintain the outstanding songwriting qualities of the former album with an enjoyable set of tracks that can be listened to dozens of times without getting boring.

The opening track, Smoke and Mirrors, is an energetic track filled with fast paced riffs and highly catchy melodies. Michael Romeo is relentless in this track, exhibiting unstoppable guitar technique and a great ear for melody. Through The Looking Glass is a thirteen minutes long epic divided into three parts, each contains numerous catchy motives and exciting vocal lines.

I must emphasize the great production of this record. Each instrument has a clear presence in the mix and you can hear at any given moment all of the instruments (including the bass guitar!) just perfectly. This is something that was clearly absent in the first couple albums of this band (especially in their debut), but this time the production is as polished as possible.

While this album is not as unique as Divine Wings of Tragedy, it is a great sequel featuring a lot of inspiring moments and complex layers of dynamic, imaginative music that require multiple listenings to fully appreciate and has a very long life span. Each musician in this album is in his prime and the songwriting maintains a constant level of brilliance that will leave you hooked.

If you like your progressive metal with a great emphasis on songwriting and less emphasis on technical masturbation (while there are some instrumental sections in this album, none of them fall to the pits of being a poor man's Malmsteen imitator), you should get this album. Twilight in Olympus is an exciting adventure for these who like their music rich, thought provoking and grandiose.

Twilight in Olympus: one of the more overlooked and if you ask me underrated Symphony X albums. After The Divine Wings of Tragedy Symphony X had left themselves quite a legacy to live up to and Twilight in Olympus does and doesn't live up to the standards arrayed against it, it all depends on how you look at it. Twilight isn't as good or better than DWOT just a disclaimer; it's a good album, but it doesn't quite manage to dazzle the listener as much as DWOT did. After the immediate success of the titanic title track "The Divine Wings of Tragedy" Symphony X was pressured (or at least felt pressured) to deliver yet another magnificent, towering progressive epic. Sadly due to time constraints they were unable to complete such an epic for this album; according to the band they took the individual parts of "Twilight in Olympus" the song and divided it up amongst the songs in The New Mythology Suite. Instead, we got "Through the Looking Glass" which is only 13 minutes vs the 20 some-odd minutes the title track was supposed to be, but don't let that discourage you "Through the Looking Glass" is an amazing song.

Let me back up a little bit, I'm getting ahead of myself. The album is very tight and very excellent, it starts off with Smoke and mirrors which has a lot in common with "Damnation Game" and "Sins and Shadows" though personally I prefer this one; Neoclassical shredding runs, a great chorus and a really catchy melody make this song a big winner and as time has progressed this song has become a prog/power metal classic (4 albums in and they already have like 5 classics, crazy right?). Smoke and mirrors transitions (almost) flawlessly into Church of the Machine, which is a bombastic mid-paced beast of a song. The atmosphere I think is what really makes this song a great one, it starts off slowly, with Russel Allen's voice faintly singing in the background, so quietly you can barely hear him, until it builds into the rather bombastic opening/chorus. This is a really well done song atmospherically and it manages to cover a lot of bases musically. I'm not going into more detail about this one because I have a feeling you'll have already decided whether "Church of the Machine" sounds good to you or not. We then have a fun interlude called Sonata based on Beethoven's Sonata No. 8 which is really light and pleasant and offers some great contrast with the loud, fast and drum heavy "In the Dragon's Den". This song is rather angry for Symphony X (back in 98 anyway); it opens with some really loud drums and really aggressive riffing by Romeo and Michael Lepond (bass player). Not much needs to be said about this song, it's fast and angry with another great chorus, Symphony X does seem to be rather good at that don't they?

I already talked a little about "Through the Looking Glass" and everything I said still stands. 13 minutes of pure progressive metal awesomeness, I actually kind of like this better than "DWOT" (the song), it has more vocals and it manages to be more memorable as a whole. The atmosphere continues to persist through this song and one of the things I love about this album as a whole is that the first half feels like one whole song, each song blending together almost perfectly making a really excellent first half (fyi: the chorus in the third part of "Through the Looking Glass is one of my favorite choruses of all time).

The second half of an album is where many bands stumble a little bit, even if the second half of an album is good, it's rarely as good as the first half. I can think of few exceptions; seriously this is a very, very common issue, this album is famous for it; or rather infamous. After building up to an amazing climax halfway through the album it loses quite a bit of steam. The Relic is a pretty standard prog/power metal song and while it is pretty good and there are a lot of bands who don't even manage to create songs as good as this one, by Symphony X standards it's rather bland; it's got a good chorus though, Romeo very rarely messes up his choruses. "Orion - The Hunter" is actually one of my favorites by these guys; a lot of people claim it's one of their weaker songs, but they can suck it. I'm telling you this is a phenomenal song, it has an AWESOME chorus, seriously, this chorus should be heard by all metal fans. What I love about this song the most though is that it's... different; for Symphony X this is a really unique song with an interesting refrain and an amazing chorus. "The Lady in the Snow" is the ending ballad of this album and is very similar to "Candlelight Fantasia" from the last album, in interviews the band said that they were looking for something atmospherically and thematically that would fit well with the rest of the album; they ended up using the Japanese mythological figure Yuki Onna. It's a really good ballad, but I can't help but feel that it sounds A LOT like "Candlelight Fantasia".

overall we get a mixed result; a stellar first half and a decent second half, this isn't helped by the fact that the album is only 50 minutes. The problem with the second half is that while it's good, it ruins all that momentum they spent the first half building up and the album just kind of peters out. The second half songs don't really fit the first half that well and the whole thing just feels kind of anticlimactic. BUT on the upside there are no bad songs on this album, each song is pretty good in it's own right and the album manages to be fairly concise and very listenable. For those of you who didn't like DWOT era Symphony X, this album won't change your mind, but if you enjoyed DWOT then you'll enjoy this.

I can split this release into two sections: better songs and mediocre ones. Better songs start just like this studio album, with Smoke And Mirrors. That Michael's opener solo will melt your face. These sweeps start to slash through your brain, and song continues with faster tempo to kick your ass. Rhythmic riffs are solid, fast, Allen sings really well, keyboards give nice neoclassical metal feel like introduction solo, refrains are kick-ass, you have keyboards and electric guitar shred race in solo. This song could have been excellent, but there's slower part which is result of these lesser progression which doesn't fit in here. Church Of The Machine is the best song from this studio album. The most dominant part of the song are keyboards with organ effect. When chorus start along with these keyboards, it's something unbelievable. Romeo did nice rhythmic and lead guitar parts, and this solo has technical keyboards and electric guitars in it. Michael Pinnella made outstanding job in this song. In The Dragon's Den has nice drum work, double bass pedal and riffs combination, refrains sound great and shred race started by Romeo and Pinnella continues. Orion - The Hunter has nice keyboards' melodies which build up an enjoyable ambient, power chords are in the right place at the right time, and powerful chorus will stuck in your mind for long time.

The rest of the album is just sad. It sucks that such talented people can make so many boring, faceless and powerless songs on a release with only eight songs. What do you get from song Through The Looking Glass (Part I, II, III)? You get boring song made of three parts, as if one boring part wasn't enough, but they added two more, so they can impress you with progressive boredom. Progressions are aimless, although instrumental parts are nicely composed, but the whole thing doesn't make sense. Songs aren't energetic and lack power, due to production and due to composition. Guitar riffs aren't dominant, and when they appear, they are not impressive. The only good thing Lady Of The Snow has to offer are passionate refrains, where Allen shows the beauty of his voice. The Relic suffers from the same syndrome as other songs, where they focused more on vocal parts which aren't well done. Also, what's the point of short instrumental song Sonata? To show you the role of an electric guitar as a side instrument from the background, maybe.

Good sides of this release:
Not much, but what's impressive here is song Church Of The Machine. There's one more song worth listening, it's Smoke And Mirrors. The rest of the songs have some good parts and their moments, but nothing as good as these two.

Bad sides of this release:
Many songs lack power. That's because of really weak distortion, dominant keyboards, many chorus and long boring songs with progressions which lead to nowhere. Guitar and keyboard solos aren't much good, 'cause mostly its soulless shred, sometimes done longer like Orion - The Hunter, and sometimes shorter. If you want to hear something good what this band did, you should listen to The Divine Wings Of Tragedy, The Odyssey and Paradise Lost. This album doesn't represent strong heavy metal sound. If you miss this one, you didn't miss much.

Highlights:
Church Of The Machine.

...and he wants his guitar sound back.

Seriously, the album opens up with "Smoke and Mirrors," and my first thought is, "Wait a minute! Is this Symphony X or Yngwie?" Arpeggio city! Okay, we all know you can play! Now give us something that sounds a little more like you!

That being said, I will admit that I enjoyed hearing Bach's B-minor Mass quoted in that opening track. Having sung the B-minor Mass with our Symphony Orchestra here in Nashville, I really appreciate anyone who wants to tackle that music in any form. But, once again, isn't that SO Yngwie, to quote Bach? Yes, I know...everyone in prog metal probably loves Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart and Beethoven. You don't usually hear the prog rock guys quoting Bernstein or Phillip Glass. (Well there was that old album by The Nice that quoted Bernstein...and Yes did the same. But those guys aren't metal, so we're not concerned about them here.)

And that "Sonata" track, with its little Beethoven intro, is cheesy in the extreme. Why do so many of these prog metal guys have to prove their worth by stealing from dead composers? This album is on way firmer ground when they begin to recapture their own style, as on the twelve-and-a-half minute "Through the Looking Glass." Yes, it sounds a little too Yes-ish, or perhaps ELP-ish. But it's creative, it's still tied into literature, and the playing is excellent. The vocals have a little edge to them, the meters constantly shift, the keyboards aren't as cheesy as they were on that "Sonata" track, and the rhythm playing is tight and crunchy. Now we're getting somewhere!

The other track that I enjoyed was "Orion the Hunter," despite its lame-ass title and somewhat inane lyrics. It has a really heavy intro, some sweet layered vocals, which contrast to the rougher lead vocal, and a lot of headlong motion. Once again, the keyboards are beautiful, without descending into a schmaltzy cheesefest. The band works as a unit here, and there's no dead composers anywhere! Nice...

I don't want to give the wrong idea here, with some of my perhaps overly sarcastic remarks. This is not a bad prog metal album by any means. It's just not the best Symphony X are capable of. And hey, maybe that's why they did so well with the later album Paradise Lost. Perhaps they figured out that they needed to be themselves...not Bach or Beethoven, but Symphony X. This is very listenable prog metal, but not this band's best.

Arguably one of the more difficult bands for me to have gotten into, Symphony X now holds a great place in my heart. I've seen the band a few times in a few different places both in the United States and once out of it in France. These lives appearances as well as continuous exposure to the band led me to later grow to like these prog power masters from my own home state. I now own all but two Symphony X albums (three if you count the 2001 live album), and the most recent of these purchases was the band's fourth album, Twilight in Olympus. Having come off of The Divine Wings of Tragedy and like anyone else who's heard a good album, I expect the next album to be good and have good expectations of it, especially considering how good the rest of Symphony X's discography is.

In turn, this is like watching milk start to go sour. The previously good drink that is great for everything from making corny marks on the upper lip to strengthening the bones through the calcium intake has now become bad from sitting around for too long. With Twilight in Olympus, you get the same general idea. The neo classical fervor of the previous two albums, which had been offset by enough progressive tendencies now almost completely dominates the sound of Symphony X on Twilight in Olympus. Now in the grand scheme of things this isn't so bad, except for the fact that it is boring with a capital B. This is Symphony X just laid back and boring, and while it's not all bad it overall is very boring and a lame album to listen to.

The first problem I have with Twilight in Olympus is the lack of progression. This album is the most straight forward and "traditional" of any Symphony X album to date. What you have is largely keyboard enhanced material with a guitar that simply plays a constant stream of the same few chords. There is also a lack of general progressions in both the time and key areas. Arguably this is what makes me the most mad. Having listened to Symphony X's later material before anything else (the first album I listened to was The Odyssey), I am more used to the band being a bit more guitar oriented then the average power metal band, especially in the riff department. On Twilight in Olympus, normally metal guitar master Michael Romeo just goes about playing the same few chords in basic power metal patterns akin to something Stratovarius would put out. American power metal bands in general are more guitar oriented then their European counterparts, especially with the guitar riffs, but here it just sounds like something out of Europe if anything else, and that annoys me outright. Even though I do like that stuff, I just don't expect to hear nor do I want to hear it from Symphony X. It is terribly exasperating.

The other thing that really gets me is the overall lyrical content of the album. You think an album titled Twilight in Olympus would be about various ancient Greek myths of the Olympian gods, the titans, creation etc etc right? Everyone who thinks that is largely wrong. The lyrics have really taken a step down from The Divine Wings of Tragedy and things have gotten rather boring. Most of it is plain fantasy out of the typical garden variety Dungeons and Dragons nerd type. This is covered in songs such as In The Dragon's Den and The Relic. This kind of stuff I can hear from any of the millions of Stratovarius clones coming out of Europe and Japan, and though I've gotten used to the members of Symphony X writing this kind of stuff, here it went a too far. The only even remote shred of any kind of mythology is in Orion The Hunter and Lady of the Snow, but that isn't even Greek mythology in the least (in the case of Lady of the Snow, it's Japanese mythology).

As a result of this, many of Russell's deeper more mid range vocals are left out of the album. I will admit for what was going on here it was a bit appropriate, but as a result the music looses a lot of it's intensity. In previous and later works, Russell's unique voice has become a staple mark of Symphony X's trademark brand of sound and intensity, and here they were really subdued and relegated to a traditional power metal register that just seemed overall rather boring. This is made even more boring by a lack of general catchy vocal patterns. Even though they are there, a good portion of the vocal patterns just sound flat and aren't that interesting or catchy when compared to stuff off of the albums that proceeded it and would follow it.

Luckily not every song is fantastical in this respect. Science fiction and overall themes of darkness appear in tracks such as Smoke and Mirrors and Church of the Machine. Orion The Hunter provides a nice cosmic backdrop to things while sounding reasonably epic lyrically, though even this falls short. In my mind, the personal favorite of lyrics on this album was the epic Through the Looking Glass. A kind of psychological and rather dark telling of the classic child's fairytale Alice in Wonderland, it's arguably one of the better of Symphony X's long epics, well comparable with something like title track of The Divine Wings of Tragedy. So thank you guys for making sure not everything was complete garbage lyrically.


Despite the lack of progressions (compared to other Symphony X works), repetitive nature, corny lyrics, and mediocre vocal performance, Twilight in Olympus is still a good album in the grand scheme of albums. For one thing, Michael Romeo plays arguably some of his best guitar solos ever. Fluid and ripping overall, the solos are played out to an absolutely stellar degree. Michael Pinnella's keyboard works are overall done well for a keyboard centric album. The band I will pride for having some interesting arrangements of Japanese folk instruments on Lady of the Snow. I especially pride them for this, for they truly managed to work in a real folky feeling and give a good atmosphere. Tom Walling also performs very well. Given the absence of Jason Rullo I have to say I would not have cared if he stuck around as Symphony X's drummer. He uses more double bass then Rullo did and it sounds pretty good for how Symphony X was playing on Twilight in Olympus. Thomas Miller also does some absolutely wicked bass work throughout the album as well.

I also like the way the album is mixed. On earlier albums it was rather difficult to hear Michael Romeo riffing and he'd often be overpowered by the drums. This time the drums were mixed different and reigned in a bit while the guitar was pushed up a bit more, kind of showing the direction Symphony X has taken with mixing their later material. The keys are also pushed out nicely and the bass is there appropriately yet powerful enough to be heard when needed. Though it isn't Symphony X's best mixed album by any means, I'll say that I did enjoy the way Twilight in Olympus was mixed better then I did the two albums that I have listened to that came before it.

All in all, Twilight in Olympus is just a case of milk going sour. Boring, repetitive, and lacking hooks overall, it's probably Symphony X's worst album to date. In the grand scheme of albums it's not so bad, but it's over cliched power metal tendencies and the lackluster performance by the band members in several areas really keep it down. It's worth a torrent if you really want it, but not much of anything else.

After being very familiar with Symphony X's Divine Wings of Tragedy for just over half a year, I tried out Twilight In Olympus, since it was the last one with bassist Thomas Miller. I expected something to the same calibre of DWoT. On DWoT, it seemed EVERY song was amazing. Now, I didn't expect Sx to replicate or even come close to the genius of DWoT, where nearly every note shined in excellence, but I did expect some stuff in a similar artistic vein.

So I popped in Twilight in Olympus, and from the very first note of Smoke and Mirrors (literally) I was dead sure that this would be a worthy successor to the genius of Divine Wings of Tragedy. What I didn't know was that the opening salvo of Smoke and Mirrors was the peak of the entire album.

You see, what we have here is standard issue power metal with standard issue verse/chorus/verse stuff with pretty standard issue solos. I expected more out of Symphony X. Of all their albums I have (Damnation Game, DWoT, Twilight in Olympus, and V) I find I listen to this the least. I hear the first song and after that I pretty much skip through the rest of the album. There's nothing really after that to hold your attention. There are ballads, there are fast songs, there's a pointless interlude that totally interrupts the flow of the album, and a rather interesting closer (Lady of the Snow) with a koto (a japanese folk instrument) lending a rather eastern feel to it. Unfortunately, it doesn't go with the flow of the rest of the album, and ends the album with a whimper rather than a bang. Though Candlelight Fantasia was a similar whimper, you were so stunned by Divine Wings of Tragedy (the song) that it didn't matter. There is no real "stunner" on this. Nothing that puts you in a daze.

It's largely solo oriented, and half the songs here are there just for the solo. And as you're waiting for the payoff of a skull splitting solo, it, for the most part, flaccidly disappoints. Poo. Sure, there are good songs here. Church of the Machine has some interesting bombastical melodies, along with a nice organ part, In the Dragon's Den has a nice guitar doodle-y-doo, and the Relic is a nice catchy number with good riffs, a catchy chorus, and a neat solo section. But that's all this album is; it's by the numbers, by the book power metal, and most moments of genius and most effective solos only last 15 seconds at the most. Symphony X is supposed to have a progressive element to them, something that separates them from the masses. The amazing songwriting that was present on DWoT and to an extent V is not present here. It's mostly autopilot stuff.

Part of the blame for the unmemorability of Twilight goes to the fill in drummer for Jason Rullo. Tom Walling drums and does his share of double bass work and other assorted power metal tricks of the trade, and his bass drum tone is pretty mean, but other than that there's not much else. His snare tone, compared to Rullo's sharp crack, is a weak piff, and doesn't "drive" the music, and his cymbal work is comparitively unimaginative as well. Rullo's driving presence is definitely missed here.

However, not all the blame can go to Walling. Mike Romeo simply does not deliver the goods we're used to hearing, and gives you no tunes to remember this effort by. Walling is not a terrible drummer, and in every other band he would've been appreciated much, and he is not at fault for why Twilight in Olympus wasn't as great as the rest of Sx's work. Romeo is the songwriter, and Romeo does not write good songs. Sure, Pinella doesn't do much of anything interesting here, either, and that doesn't help things. Miller, for his part, is always largely appreciated, and he doesn't disappoint here.

Twilight in Olympus is not a bad album, and taken into the context of the larger power metal scene, is a good album by any means. But when you look at who did it, what they were capable of, and what they've made before, it's average. Not bad, not good, just average. When I listen to it, I will admit I do hum along every so often, but I am then reminded of how genius their other works are, and I just put on DWoT or V.

Symphony X is one of my favorite bands, they haven't disappointed me yet. Even V had it's charms and of course "Evolution" is a classic. But for some reason, Twilight in Olympus is often overlooked by fans. I for one think it's a classic, more so than V. This album has it all, speed, power, riffs, solos, awesometastic(tm) vox, and last BASS.

The production is as close to perfect as they come, all of the instruments can be heard, no weird crackles or buzzes, the drums aren't too loud and the guitar tone is perfect. The only thing missing is Jason Rullo, Tom Walling is not as good as him but he does his part. This is Thomas Miller's last appearance and it's also the bass' last appearance. After Lepond comes on board, you don't hear the bass too often.

The songs own you. Simple as that. Michael Romeo remembers that this is prog METAL and thus he writes metal riffs. His soloing is solotastic(tm) especially the sweep at the beginning of "Smoke and Mirrors", he is better at being Yngwie than Yngwie. The chorus for "Smoke and Mirrors" is catchy as hell and so is "In the Dragon's Den", damn that Russell can sing. Of course the vocals aren't as impressive as on Divine Wings of Tragedy or The Odyssey, simply because there ain't no epics (I've heard rumors that there was supposed to be an epic title track but got scrapped and expanded to V).

What more is there to say? The production is top-notch, the songs are great (The opener and "In the Dragon's Den" are speed metal heaven!), every instrument can be heard and most importantly, THE BASS IS INTERESTING! Symphony X lost more than a band member when Thomas Miller left.

Get the digipack, it's got a screensaver and interviews with the band member. (Side note: Michael Pinella is credited for "knives and chainsaw juggling", what the hell does that mean?)

Being a rabid SymphonyX fan, I like to think that I have some idea of what this band is capable of and what they do and don't do. With that being said, this album perfectly and evenly covers every aspect of their creativity and even adds some new taste that is harder to find on other releases.

1. [Smoke and Mirrors] This song is the definitive SymphonyX opener. It's their most power metal song to date, topping every other SymX opener to date. It begins with a neo-classical riff that shows up within the rest of the song. The chorus is a great sing along one and is driven by powerful double bass (that continues through most of the song). Power, power, power. They're considered a PowerProg band, and this song shows where the "power" half comes from.

2. [Church of the Machine] What I would call a psuedo-epic. It's somewhat longer than most SymphonyX songs but far shorter than their epics. One of the most epic things about it though isn't the length at all; rather it's the lyrical content and chorus. This one starts off with an ambient intro and has a very sudden burst into the chorus. It settles down for all of the verses and bridges but every time that chorus kicks in it's always built up and then explodes. Very sexual. The song ends with an unnaturally sudden stop (A-la "Pull Me Under" for the Dream Theater fans) as in they just turned off the record button. I don't typically like this sort of thing but it segways from this chaotic song into a classical piece...

3. [Sonata] This song is adapted from a classical piece. It starts with just that (presumably pre-programmed on a computer) but is soon joined by Mike Romeo's guitar. He begins to shred over it while still keeping the calm feel. It fades into slowly...

4. [In The Dragon's Den] A busting huge drum fill starts as the music from Sonata fades out. It goes into a typical SymX "double-bass and equally fast guitar and bass" section. The verses have soaring vocals and the chorus has some great vocal harmonies. If you're looking for the song that can top "Smoke&Mirrors" as the most power metal SymX song, this is it. One of my all time favorites.

5. [Through The Looking Glass] And here we have the epic of this disc. Not as long as some of their others, but still a mean 13:05. This one is my personal favorite. This one would very long to describe part-by-part (and I doubt anyone would read all of that) so I'll just give a breakdown of it. It's divided into three sections. The first is mostly mid tempo and very much a "scene-setter". The second and third parts are where the song gets a bit more aggressive and eventually reaches what I would consider one of the most climactic choruses in any metal song. The lyrics... the hills and valleys of emotion... this song gets the Gonfeldurok stamp of amazing.

6. [The Relic] It would be tough to follow up a song such as that which should really be a closer, so the album hits a little bump as far as flowing is concerned. That doesn't stop this from being a great mid-tempo tune. Ripe with harpsichord and guitar harmony for all you neo-classical nuts. Very proggy prechorus with almost "Alice in Chains" style vocals. Very creepy and obscure SymX. One of those ones you'll probably never hear live.

7. [Orion - The Hunter] Every SymX fan will tell you two things about this song: (A) It's the weakest song on the album and (B) it's one of Russell Allen's best vocal songs. Unforunately this is true. Overall this is a better song than most people make it out to be. It's just that it's even slower than the previous song... which was already a big drop from the epic before it. Take this one with a grain of salt and listen specifically to Russ for true satisfaction on this one.

8. [Lady of the Snow] Obscure, Eerie, beautiful. The song is very Eastern sounding. That's the first thing that comes to mind when I hear it, actually. It has a theatrical almost broadway-ish build up that goes into a tale of folklore and intrigue. One of those songs that brings a tear to your eye with its beauty and intrigue. I want to listen to this song right now as I'm writing this.

Twilight in Olympus is the last Symphony X album with bass player Thomas Miller, so let’s say it is the last classic Symphony X album, before they start to play more conventional power metal. And it is, after The Damnation Game and The Divine Wings of Tragedy, the third masterpiece from this band, which will never be able to reach this level again.

You want to hear progressive metal at its best? Well, forget Dream Theater and listen to Smoke and Mirrors, the opening track, one of the best Symphony X tracks ever. The structure can’t be more simple – verse-chorus-verse-chorus – but who ever said you needed 1242 bridges, solos, 35 minutes long songs or whatever, to prove your musician skills? Michael Romeo’s style stays impressive without ever being boring and, moreover, he and keyboardist Michael Pinella manage to form a real duet without ever giving the impression each one plays his fucking little stuff without caring for other musicians, which is the case in too many progressive bands. And above all, yes, there are riffs! Progressive metal with riffs, that’s what we’re asking for. Then there are the vocals, "Sir" Russel Allen’s both harsh and melodic feeling, with this thrashy groove which fits the music the best. No need for high-pitched vocals here. The bass? May I mention once again Thomas Miller has been one of the best bassists of all times (and in any case far better than Mike Lepond who will replace him)? And yes, you can actually HEAR the bass (well, it had to be mentioned).

Every of the 7 following songs is the same quality. Church of the Machine shows some indus noise at the beginning (funny but not really necessary, let’s admit it), a melodic, almost Queen-ish chorus which contrasts with the harsher verses, and eventually the most abrupt ending in Symphony X’s history – giving the impression they didn’t know how to finish this great song but on a cover of a sonata by Beethoven (a little guitar-and-keyboard-only transition). Then follows a more aggressive song again, In the Dragon’s Den, which shows the drummer’s high skills, especially in the introduction (never heard of this Tom Walling outside from this album – may I say unfortunately?). Nice solo from the Romeo/Pinella duet. As you may guess, the following track will be more melodic, it is the epic Through the Looking Glass, which can be compared with The Edge of Forever, The Accolade or Communion and the Oracle on other Symphony X albums. Russel Allen actually SINGS, and it does it very well, without sounding cheesy a single bit! After the ballad-ish first and second parts, the song’s third part sounds more aggressive, in the trend of Church of the Machine. However, let’s admit the song tends to become a bit boring at the end, with the chorus repetition.

A faster song follows, The Relic. Let’s just say a word: short, but perfect, with one of the best choruses ever. More aggressive riffs again in Orion-The Hunter, which shows indeed an amazing Russel Allen performance on the verses. The solo part however is slightly weak in my opinion compared to the other songs (stopping, then beginning again with the same slow riff, lacking a bit from energy).

And eventually... An eerie ballad in the trend of Candlelight Fantasia: Lady of the Snow. Russel Allen sings again, backed by Michael Romeo’s strange arpeggios, and yes, it is a lesson of how every metal ballad should be like. Not a single bit of cheese here as well. Pure melancholy.

A word on the lyrics to finish. They’re made of a blend of fantasy, sadness, mythology and mysticism, without ever sounding clichéd; well true moments of poetry. When you’ll know most of them were written by bassist Thomas Miller, who was also the main songwriter with Michael Romeo, you’ll realise what Symphony X lost.

The last Symphony X great album, and one of the best metal albums ever.

Highlights: Smoke and Mirrors, Church of the Machine, In the Dragon’s Den, The Relic, Lady of the Snow.

When you are trying to get into Symphony X - people will always recommend The Divine Wings Of Tragedy, V or The Odyssey. They aren't wrong but from what I've seen, very few acknowledge Twlight In Olympus.

The Divine Wings Of Tragedy was the first SX album that could be considered a classic and as some of you know, following up such an album that is held in such high regard, especially when one of the band members leave, is extremely difficult and often damaging to a band's career (Falling Into Infinity by Dream Theater is an example). Thankfully, Micheal Romeo and Co. never looked back.

On Twilight's In Olympus, SX maintained all the excellent qualities that made Divine Wings a success but developed them further into a more classical metal style while maintaining that true SX sound.

The star of the show has to be Russell Allen, the vocalist. Russell Allens voice sounds better than ever, this mans range and moods he sets using just his voice is phenomenal - I swear, this guy genuinely does get better with age.
This does mean that the rest of the band simply trails in Allens wake - Romeo, Miller, Pinnella and especially Walling (who had the tough task of replacing Jason Rullo) are all extremely consistent and excellent.

There is not a single song out of place on this album. There are some songs much better than others (Church Of The Machine and Through The Looking Glass for example) but despite the many high points this album delivers, there are no low points. This is just an extremely strong and solid album all in and deserves much more recognition that it gets.

If anyone reading this is curious about Symphony X then Twilight In OIympus is the best place to start - it may not be their best but in my opinion it's the most accessible album they have made besides The Odyssey.

Excellent album.

Yes, I definitely believe that this album is way too underrated. Some people may mark it as Symphony X's worst! On the contrary! Evidently The Divine Wings of Tragedy was their best, but this was an excellent follow-up to that album. Smoke and Mirrors without a doubt is an excellent way to start off the album, and then moving into other tracks such as "In the Dragon's Den," and "Orion" proves to be a very clever way to arrange the songs. As the songs progress, they become much more energetic and active until finally it faces off in "Orion." Michael Romeo is one of my guitar heroes, mostly because of his brilliant orchestral compositions on this album and on "The Odyssey" as well. I also admire his subtle little song-to-song transitions, such as "Sonata." Unlike our Swedish friend Mr. Yngwie Malmsteen, Romeo never sticks with one particular key or mode. He has a wide range of creativity and I believe that some of those best examples are found on Twilight in Olympus. I had the pleasure of seeing them perform the tracks off of this album live...incredible. Absolutely remarkable playing by all of the band members. Jason Rullo is a drummer who is often overlooked, meanwhile his timing is impeccable and his style is astonishing. I believe that this particular album shows that Symphony X can adapt to lineup changes, with Tom Walling replacing Jason Rullo. Brilliant album...and brilliant band.