As recently as the mid- to late '90s, it was pretty darn incomprehensible for a band to merge
heavy metal
with a symphony orchestra. But a decade later, the number of "
symphonic metal
" bands seemed to be growing by the day -- as the genre was being spearheaded by such acts as
Kamelot
(with most of
bands hailing from Europe,
is an exception -- they're natives of Florida). On their eighth full-length overall, 2007's
Ghost Opera
, the band continues to merge tricky
prog metal
with swirling strings -- following a musical path not all that far removed from such "thinking man's metallists" as
Queensryche
and
Dream Theater
.
's
hybrid is best sampled on such album standouts as
"Rule the World,"
"Blucher,"
and the title track, while a track such as
"Anthem"
seems custom-made for a fleet-footed
ballet
or ice-skating adaptation. Both bombastic and complex, those
boys sure can play! ~ Greg Prato