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Michael Romeo Interview – A Perfect Symphony Part Two: 2002 - 2008
Mon, 19/05/2008 - 23:09 - Owen Edwards
In Part One of our exclusive Michael Romeo Interview: ‘A Perfect Symphony’, Michael and I discussed his early days and influences as a player, and he gave us the low down on both the formation of Symphony X and the first phase of their career. Now we look at the last few years - a time when Symphony X have been going from strength to strength in the International arena culminating in the recent sold out Headlining European Tour.
After the critical success of ‘V: The New Mythology’, 2002’s epic ‘The Odyssey’ saw the band shift up a gear and begin to get the international recognition that they deserved.
Oh yeah! I think with that record - kind of like what we've done with ‘Paradise Lost’ - we made a conscious decision to get a bit heavier. We'd done the concept thing with ‘V...’, so it was like "Let’s kind of change stuff with this one: get back to some heavy riffs and maybe a get a little dryer production". So we tried something different with that. That album probably did the best for us everywhere out of all the records up until 'Paradise Lost'. Even in the States here, we had a lot more stuff going on and went out on our own for some shows for the first time.
Yeah - definitely the Metal scene. Here in the States, I'm starting to see a lot more kids playing guitar and finding out about Black Sabbath and everything - just the same as when I was a kid: it really works in cycles.
Yeah, a little bit of everything; it’s definitely got a lot better and - as we'll talk about later - with 'Paradise Lost' it's gone great!
After the critical success of ‘V: The New Mythology’, 2002’s epic ‘The Odyssey’ saw the band shift up a gear and begin to get the international recognition that they deserved.
I remember that with the release of this album - in Europe at least - your profile really began to get bigger: did it take things to the next level for you as a band?
Oh yeah! I think with that record - kind of like what we've done with ‘Paradise Lost’ - we made a conscious decision to get a bit heavier. We'd done the concept thing with ‘V...’, so it was like "Let’s kind of change stuff with this one: get back to some heavy riffs and maybe a get a little dryer production". So we tried something different with that. That album probably did the best for us everywhere out of all the records up until 'Paradise Lost'. Even in the States here, we had a lot more stuff going on and went out on our own for some shows for the first time.
During the last five years or so it seems as if your work rate with the band has been much greater with more tours and everything: do you think the general metal and progressive scene has got a lot better in the last few years?
Yeah - definitely the Metal scene. Here in the States, I'm starting to see a lot more kids playing guitar and finding out about Black Sabbath and everything - just the same as when I was a kid: it really works in cycles.
Does that translate into concert attendances and record sales going up?
Yeah, a little bit of everything; it’s definitely got a lot better and - as we'll talk about later - with 'Paradise Lost' it's gone great!