SYMPHONY X: New Audio Interview With MICHAEL ROMEO

October 11, 2011

Greece's Rock Overdose recently conducted an interview with guitarist Michael Romeo of North America's progressive metal masterminds SYMPHONY X. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.

Interview (audio):

SYMPHONY X's ninth studio album, "Iconoclast", sold more than 7,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 76 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band's previous CD, "Paradise Lost", opened with around 6,500 copies back in July 2007.

"Iconoclast" was released in Europe on June 17 and in North America on June 21 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Illustrator and film concept artist Warren Flanagan ("Watchmen", "The Incredible Hulk", "2012") is the talent behind the album artwork. He states, "The idea was to create imagery that was a little darker in tone to previous SYMPHONY X albums and to represent the overall theme of 'Iconoclast' into the artwork. The whole concept came from [SYMPHONY X guitarist] Mike [Romeo], who had a strong idea of what the cover should represent based off the music. I just ran with it. When the album's title was decided on, I focused the image based on the meaning of it. I also wanted to use the band's signature 'masks' but present them in a way that connected to the new album."

SYMPHONY X founder and lead guitarist Michael Romeo has the following to say about Flanagan's art: "We worked with Warren on the last CD, 'Paradise Lost', and have a good relationship with him. When I talk to Warren about artwork ideas, a lot of times we end up making comparisons to films and movies. With the new CD, 'Iconoclast', the music and lyrics have a darker mechanical/technological theme, and I remember us talking about scenes from films like 'The Matrix' and 'Terminator'. From there, we sent him some songtitles and lyrics (songs like 'Dehumanized', 'Bastards Of The Machine', 'Electric Messiah') and just let Warren run with the ball. He has a great imagination and style, and he totally gets what we are trying to convey with the music."

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