This past Saturday night April the 19^th found me raring to go once again for another injection of Heavy Metal euphoria when I headed down to the House of Blues Hollywood to catch the profound performances by U.S. based prog-metallers Symphony X, Holland’s Epica, and Canada’s Into Eternity. Upon arrival the line to get in stretched all the way around the outside of the venue and down Sunset Blvd. this of course was the first sign that I was in for one hell of show. Thankfully being with the press does have a few small advantages and I didn’t have to stand and wait in the monster line. I quickly found my way inside long enough to scope out the merch. tables before I had to get to my place inside the photo pit. By the time the lights went down and the show began the room had filled out quite nicely.

Up first was Canadian Metallers Into Eternity who much to my surprise performed the best set I’ve ever witnessed from them. I’m not sure exactly what changed since the last time I caught their show but frontman Stu Block was actually singing on key! This grabbed my attention right away and for the first time ever I really enjoyed their performance. These guys have always been about precision and pushing the limits and their talents were definitely present this evening. As I listen to their music I become more and more impressed with each song in that it really is rather hard to label their specific sound. They truly pay homage to diversity and if you listen close enough you’ll find that their musical styling contains a little bit of nearly everything pertaining to the overall genre in a well crafted Metal opus. Guttural blasts, shrieking vocal lines, twin guitar attacks and powerhouse drum pounding give these guys a considerable edge over much of today’s less than amusing three chord insanity. Now I will say that they are by no means at the level they could be just yet but they are definitely getting there. My favorites were the bands killer ballad “Surrounded By Night” and “Severe Emotional Distress”. These are prime examples of the excellent writing that they are capable of and if they could pull this off with every song they would be riding a top the world for sure. I do also think that Mr. Block needs to pull back on the highs just a bit. 

Next on the bill was Dutch film score Metal warriors Epica whose operatic frontwoman Simone Simons has proven once again that women definitely have a place in Metal. Unfortunately Simone is recovering from a severe staff infection and was forced to sit out this tour. Filling in for here was the very lovely Amanda Somerville who sounded remarkably just like Simone! Well, maybe not quite the exactly the same but pretty damn close. Her stage presence on the other hand was definitely not up to Simons Standards and this was somewhat expected as the songs are not Amanda’s and she does not share the same emotional attachment that Simone does. Nevertheless the band performed very admirably and kept the spirit of the night in check throughout their impressive set. I never grow tired of hearing this bands music as it is just all so epic, pardon the pun. Guitarist Mark Jansen also finds huge favor with my ears from his brilliant guitar playing to his brutal sounding grunts. Song favorites included “The Obsessive Devotion” and the outstanding “Consign To Oblivion”. I as well as all the Epica fans I’m sure do hope for Simone to get well and come back to the states real soon to start kicking Metal ass once again. 

After a brief intermission the main event had arrived. New Jersey based Symphony X who are currently in the middle of the second leg of their U.S. tour were absolutely astonishing as ever. My god can these guys play! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, why the hell aren’t they sitting on top? I know that they are definitely making some serious headway with their latest release Paradise Lost getting regular play on the Headbanger’s Ball and such but it sure is slow moving. I recently received a letter from a friend of mine who pointed out that the artists on top are usually only there for a short period of time and then they are gone for good and their audience as well, but for a band such as Symphony X whose fans are extremely loyal we can rest assured that they will be around for some time to come. Now, it’s not what they didn’t play but rather what they did play and although I’m sure there were those a bit disappointed with the absence of a few songs like “The Odyssey” I don’t believe anybody was complaining. The combination of Michael Romeo’s shredding (which he does with such finesse and grandeur) and Russell Allen’s incredible set of pipes is enough to make a grown man cry. Musicianship at this level is so incredibly scarce any more it truly gives me concern for the future. Also in extremely fine form was the rest of the band, Michael LePond on bass, “Michael Pinella on keys and Jason Rullo on drums; what an ensemble. Again I must also give props to the soundman that made these guys sound bigger than life and at the same time send curses to the light guy. What is it with these people who think we are fine seeing the band in shadow and silhouette for so much of the show, I shot over a hundred shots of this event and walked away with only 20 or so truly viable shots. In order their set consisted of these fine pieces of musical genius, “Set the World On Fire”, “Domination”, Serpent’s Kiss”, “Masquerade”, “Paradise Lost”, “Egypt/The Death Of Balance”, The Walls Of Babylon”, “Inferno”, “Smoke and Mirrors”, “Revelation/Divine Wings of Tragedy”, “Eve of Seduction”, Of Sins and Shadows”. In the end this was one of the best shows I’ve attended all year and I look forward to doing it all again next time they roll through.

-Priest