Iconoclast

Iconoclast is Symphony X's eighth album, on which they tied weighty riffs to complex construction to make their progressive metal even harder-edged. A dystopian concept album depicting a future where machines and technology dominate humanity, it pushes the previous album's direction more aggressively. Their first record on Nuclear Blast, it reached No. 76 on the US Billboard 200 — one of the band's commercial peaks. Released in 2011, it was recorded entirely at The Dungeon and produced by Michael Romeo himself. The 11-minute title track opens with hard-edged riffs, and the flow through the racing "Dehumanized," the aggressive "Bastards of the Machine," and the lyrical closer "When All Is Lost" is stunning. Russell Allen drives the songs with an anger-tinged voice, and Michael Romeo's guitar and Michael Pinnella's keyboards tightly intertwine. Balancing aggression and technique, it is an accomplished work carving a new side of the band. The special edition is a two-disc set adding several new songs, including "Light Up the Night" and "The Lords of Chaos."