Metal Reviews

OK, I picked up a few CDs this week that are firsts for me. I'm interested in hearing what you guys think about these bands. I can go online and read all about them, I know, but I'm interested in personal opinions on their albums and such.



The first band is The Storyteller. I heard a sample clip of a song from their new CD on The End Records' website and loved it, I listened to two more clips from their site and loved those, as well. I then picked up Tales Of A Holy Quest from eBay and am extremely pleased with it. How is the rest of their catalog? I hear they were all acoustic in the beginning! :shock:



The same goes for Symphony X. I know they're quite popular among metalheads, but The Odyssey is the first album I've ever heard from them. On initial listen the album seems to lack that certain Oomph! that a CD like this should have. Likely the result of Pro-Tools and whatnot. I liked what I heard, but one spin driving around won't do it justice, I know. So what can I expect from this band? How does this album stack up to their other releases?



The third band is called Eternal Reign, I picked up Forbidden Path from the used bin and I am 100% pleased with this CD. They sound like a less power metal, more melodic/traditional metal version of Brainstorm with a singer that is a cross between Marcus Jürgens and Andy B. Franck, second and current Brainstorm vocalists. This CD is excellent, but their website is retarded and the link titles are in English, but everything else is in German. Like it says, NEWS, then it'll say Buy Some Souvenirs, then everything under it is German. Retarded, if you ask me. So, anyone have any info on this band? I was very impressed! If not, may I suggest you check them out?

Any info is appreciated!

Hello Mr. Eyesore. I'll weigh in on that Symphony X album. It sounds pretty similar to the other Symphony X I have heard, which admittedly is just a couple tracks. I think it's good, but I only really like the heavier songs such as Inferno, parts of The Odyssey, and above all King of Terrors. I love that track, great name and greater riff and bridge. The title track I enjoy overall, I don't think it drags much and it has the good cheesy factor. I'd give the album a 78/100 or so, but this is coming from a mainly non-power/prog guy.

Good stuff you bought there, Eyesore.




Symphony X is a great band that i can tell you.My fav. albums are The Divine Wings Of Tragedy and V with The Odyssey a close third.But like you said you need more spins before you actually like the album and i'm sure you will like it.
Ohh and you may check that band Oomph! while you're at it.They have some good stuff



I have heard both Eternal Reign albums and they are good. Nothing special, reminds me sometimes of Jacob's Dream (not the last one).Their first album ,Crimes of Passion I would rate higher though.Some good songs, some fillers and overall a steady sounding band.

I hope this info helps.

The only band I have heard on that list is Symphony X, which is probably the same for most here. So before you get sick of reading why people like Symphony X, read my reason .

I first heard Symphony X two years ago. They were coming to Omaha, NE with Devin Townsend for a show (this happens very seldom). I had not heard anything from their catalog to enjoy their performance, so when I found out they were coming, my brother and I downloaded a few tracks off of "Divine Wings" and "V." Then we got to the show and, HOLY CRAP!! They are just as good live as they are on their albums. So, from that day on, Symphony X has been one of my top ten bands.


Get "Divine Wings of Tragedy," "The Damnation Game," and you can try "V." "V" was a little boring IMO, but the other two are great!

Symphony X is one of my favorite bands. I really like The Odyssey but my favorite album is still Divine Wings of Tragedy. Damnation Game is great as is V, and Twilight in Olympus has some great tracks as well. I haven't touched the self-titled debut as it is the only one without vocalist Russel Allen (who's voice I believe has many similarities to Ronnie James Dio). Look for their new album sometime next year, Mike Romeo claims that the music is gonna be darker than any previous release. It was supposed to be done this year, but they opted to do Gigantour, which they absolutely kicked ass on.

He does sound like Dio on this CD. My experience with Allen has only been on the Ayreon/Star One discs, so I knew he was a great vocalist, but he sounds different than what I expected. I thought he would be more power metal, that's what I expected, so it threw me off to hear a grand rock tone coming from him. I hate having expectations before listening to a CD! Hahaha.

As for Eternal Reign, if their first album is better I definitely have to get it because Forbidden Path is excellent! Quite a surprise.

Has no one heard The Storyteller? If not, check them out:

The Storyteller - Changeling (Clip)
The Storyteller - Beauty Is The Beast (Clip)

Great stuff right there.

The sound for Crimes Of Passion is more raw and unpolished but i find the songs to flow better without some of the dull moments in Forbidden Path.The overall feeling is like old Nocturnal Rites albums, where the unpolished, raw sounding music brought unmatched in recent albums atmosphere.
At least thats how I see things.

Check out his solo cd, Atomic Soul, he's really rocking on that one. Just dont expect the Symphony X sound on it, more of a classic rock tone to it.

More like Bluesy Bar Music IMO. Very lame release, although I bet you'll like it Eyesore.

I have all 4 storyteller releases, including the EP. I like the music and the songs, but sometimes the singer has little variation and it wears on you after several listens. I would jave to say tho that I believe the first album (s/t) and most recent (underworld) are their best works.
I think we just had a review of underworld here recently?

Symphony X i like ok, but I still cant really get into prog much.
Eternal Reign- I nver heard. I knew it too be a limb product which i typically like, but just never got around to hearing them

Try Divine Wings of Tragedy!If you don't like it,you don't like SymphonyX.If you like it,try Twilight in Olympus(which is quite underrated)!

The Odissey is overall the most raw sounding album SymphonyX ever did,and it kicks ass;but it has a major mistake on it:the orchestral introduction on the title track(every time i hear it,i want to smash the CD with a hammer);but the Rhapsody fans might like it!

Yeah right dude. It sounds like a frikin movie. That song is perfect in ever way.

Some parts of it are good,but that intro ruins the whole song!!!

I just bought this album on Wednesday night. It was one of the many promos sitting in the used section of my favourite record shop for many months. I'd been toying with buying it (I've got some good and bad promos from there) for a while and when I saw it reduced to £2 I couldn't really lose.

After one listen I'm reasonably impressed, mainly for the reasons you already mentioned. But I don't have any more info about them, I'm afraid.

I have the first 2 Storyteller albums, it's welldone ok stuff... The first one had at least one "classic" song Guardians Of Kail

I think I'm gonna order the next one and the EP on Monday, along with other stuff... but the new album shall wait till it comes down to midprice too ;) ...Though I might sell them all after getting the newer stuff if it doesn't excite me enough :(

Oh yeah, and I really like their new website! I think it's great!!

Um, and I have the mentioned Eternal Reign album too, but it's on my gigantuous to-be-listened-list... :(

Thanks for the info, guys. After repeated listens over the past few days I am most impressed with Eternal Reign, it's my favorite of the bunch.

I do like the Symphony X CD and I will definitely be picking up more by them, but I really wish this was heavier. I would call this album raw, I would say it's been mixed badly. The guitar tone is not very appealing.

And The Storyteller is a definite winner. Good, strong power metal, but definitely nothing original. Just solid tunes. Not a bad batch of CDs, though.