Iconoclast

Come on, hit the switch
You son of a bitch...


Some bands know when their creative wellspring is dry and decide to focus solely on touring, instead of releasing bland products of crap just for the sake of it. Comparing albums such as Iconoclast with The Divine Wings of Tragedy, is a very saddening experience, considering the fact that they were released under the same band name.

Symphony X of the 90's were a band that composed remarkable and inspiring neoclassical progressive metal without any compromises. Symphony X of the 2010's is just another band in an endlessly growing pile of commercialized, generic metal bands that are releasing garbage products of accessible, superficial semi pop music with down tuned distorted guitar riffs and beautifully photoshop crafted cover arts, laughing all the way to the bank.

Iconoclast is an uninspired collection of mechanical riffs with bland, characterless choruses that goes nowhere. Imagine yourself a band of robots composing modern thrash metal with keyboards and some obligated, artificial, meandering instrumental sections to classify their album under the progressive metal territories, and you'll get a clear picture of this album. The band decided to go fully aggressive in this album, yet by doing so they lost all their uniqueness and character. The title track, is an exaggerated, overlong track with a pathetic "We are strong! We will stand and fight!" infantile chorus and an overload of computerized, unimaginative load of disposable riffs.

For the whole duration of this album, there is a strong sense of haste and lack of inspiration. Bastards Of The Machine is a great example for that unimaginative frame of mind. This track features a collection of very insubstantial, fast paced riffs that just goes through the motions and dull vocal lines that are miles away from the enchanting and catchy vocal melodies the band used to write.

Dehumanized is probably the best self-explaining track in this album. Symphony X is dehumanized. A mishmash of tedious riffs and banal vocal lines is the whole essence of this superfluous product. Most of the songs sound exactly the same, no variation whatsoever, and listening to this album consecutively is a very lifeless and tiresome experience. There is nothing arousing in this album. All of the songs follow the same formula of flat thrash metal drumming, occasional boring guitar solos and subpar choruses.

Anyway, this is a very ignorable product that brings nothing new, or enjoyable to the table. It's safe to say that Symphony X became a pale shadow of their past, and there is a long way to the bottom from the remarkable heights they once reached.