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Michael Romeo Interview – A Perfect Symphony Part One: 1970's to 2000.
Back in the mid 1990's Symphony X surfaced from the fertile breeding ground for virtuoso rock and shred/metal guitarists that is New Jersey, USA. One of those very rare bands whose signature sound and approach was pretty much fully formed from day one, Symphony X emerged with a stunning blend of precision metal riffing, soaring melodies and show stopping solo passages from guitarist Michael Romeo and keyboardist Mike Pinella that provided the previously unchallenged Dream Theater with a viable contender for the throne of the ultimate prog metal band.
Over the past decade Symphony X have steadily improved their craft with a succession of increasingly successful albums and tours that culminated in 2007's 'Paradise Lost' - which has been their most successful to date and seen them traverse the globe on a number of hugely successful tours (including one with the aforementioned Dream Theater).
To many virtuoso metal guitarists and shred fans back in that 'lost decade' of grunge, Britpop and virulent anti technique, Romeo provided a lifeline with his genuinely fresh take on shred guitar. He proved that you could do something fresh within a genre that was frequently written off by the mainstream guitar media as being creatively stagnant. In addition to his brutal rhythmic ability, Romeo incorporated a unique approach to scalar and arpeggio lines utilising a
seamless tapping and legato approach that influenced a whole new generation of metal players. Whilst the influences of players such as Jason Becker and the ubiquitous Yngwie Malmsteen remain self-evident in his playing, he nevertheless took these elements a stage further and is nowadays increasingly well-respected as a genuinely original voice in the shred arena.
Indeed, AOG's resident wunderkind guitarist, Andy 'The Future of Shred' James states: "As far as neo-classical shred guitarists go he is definitely? one of my favourites: with his fantastic metal rhythm and his very unique approach to tapping within arpeggios, scales and pentatonics, he’s been a massive influence!"
In this exclusive 2 part interview, AOG spoke with Michael from his New Jersey studio as he was preparing for the release of 'Paradise Lost' and again in March 2008 midway through their headlining European Tour to get the low down on the Prog Metal Titan that is Michael Romeo.