"Wimpy production blights intense, powerful music."
With a more powerful production, you know, a bit more "OOMPH", The Damnation Game could have been so much better than it is. It's sad that guitars buzz instead of crunch, drums click instead of slam, and the overall power just isn't there.
The Damnation Game, SyX's second album, brings god-like metal vocalist Russell Allen into the ranks. Although his ability never really shines through in this production, one can immediately see the promise in this man's pipes. Sounding like a younger, more vicious Ronnie James Dio, Allen fits SyX's aggressive music direction much better than the hopelessly bad Rod Tyler (from the debut).
In the song department, the band has their frantic songwriting more under control, with tighter arrangements and more intensity. The neoclassical element is still strongly evident, although the band is now exploring more interesting avenues. "The Edge of Forever" is a beautiful song with fast and slow passages, lamenting poetry, and inventive melodic progressions. It really sets the tone for the band's later brand of progressive/neoclassical metal found on Twilight In Olympus and V. Michael Romeo, one of the reigning champs of metal soloing, has his neoclassical leads coming fast and furious, with technique that might cause our good friend Yngwie to take notice. Romeo's partner in devastating soloing is the lightning-fast Michael Pinnella, whose blistering keyboard leads smoke through the song and arrest one's attention as much as any guitar solo. Songs feature trademark SyX features... majestic harmonies, symphonic textures, and killer leads, but the band has yet to explode. On the next several albums, they certainly erupt with all the ambition and quality hinted at here.
You've probably discovered SyX with either The Divine Wings of Tragedy or V. [Ed.: Or maybe one of their newest albums. This review was originally published a long time ago.] If that's the case, be sure to add The Damnation Game to your collection. It is flawed, but it's great moments give it the "must-have" status. And if you're new to Symphony X, start with one of the aforementioned albums.
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