SYMPHONY X's RUSSELL ALLEN: Fans Will Get Next Album When It's Finally Done

February 3, 2015

Metal Wani's Sairaj Kamath and William Richards recently conducted an interview with SYMPHONY X and ADRENALINE MOB singer Russell Allen. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.

Speaking about the progress of the recording sessions for SYMPHONY X's long-awaited follow-up to 2011's "Iconoclast", Russell said: "Dude, I have no idea. I did my tracks, and that's it. I haven't heard anything. I'm sure I'll hear something at some point, obviously, before the record's released, but the last I heard guitars were being recorded. I don't even know if it's being mixed yet; I haven't heard from Mike [guitarist Michael Romeo]. He's busy doing it, so I leave him alone, you know?! When he's done, he's done. And that's what all SYMPHONY X fans know and have come to accept about this band — that they'll get the stuff when it finally gets done, and that's it."

Russell also talked about the health of SYMPHONY X drummer Jason Rullo who in 2013 suffered heart failure.

"To my knowledge, he's in great health," Allen said. "Again, I have not heard his final takes [for the new SYMPHONY X album], so I have no comment on that."

Regarding the musical direction of the new SYMPHONY X material, the band's bassist, Michael LePond, told the "Talking Metal" podcast: "I think this album is not gonna be as heavy as our last one, 'Iconoclast'. If I had to compare this one, I would say it's a combination of [2002's] 'The Odyssey' meets [2007's] 'Paradise Lost'. It has a lot of classic SYMPHONY X elements in it, and I think our old fans are really gonna appreciate this one. So we're really excited about it."

According to LePond, "It wasn't a conscious decision to go back to the older sound; it just kind of happened. That's the way we write songs. We just start writing songs, and wherever it takes us, it takes us. But there's a lot of really cool, classic SYMPHONY X things in there. It's very, very musical. It concentrates just more on solid songs and great melodies."

The bassist also spoke about SYMPHONY X's continued success and seeming ability to gain new fans without compromising the musical ideals that form its core identity.

"One thing that's really amazing about SYMPHONY X and about our fans is, it seems like every record, we move up a little bit more, we get just a little bit more popular," he said. "We don't jump up into stardom; it's a slow climb. I mean, the band's been together just about 20 years now, and it just seems like with every album, our fan base grows just a little bit more, and we've been able to hold the old fans too. So, thankfully, we're still growing."

He continued: "It's always an amazing thing to see someone really young discovering SYMPHONY X. It just gives you the gas to keep going and just keep working hard."

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 June 2011 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Find more on Russell allen
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).