Symphony X axeman Michael Romeo has released a lyric video for the track “Fear Of The Unknown” which comes off his eagerly anticipated first official solo album, War of the Worlds / Pt. 1, out on July 27th thru Music Theories Recordings / Mascot Label Group. The wildly ambitious 10-song disc sees the founder, chief songwriter and prime mover of the progressive titans Symphony X furthering his reputation as one of the world’s preeminent axe slingers and composers of adventurous, multi-faceted orchestral metal.
Michael Romeo comments on the song: “Another one of my favorite tracks. This is the second song on the album after the ‘Introduction’, and I wanted something uptempo, melodic, with some ‘riffage’ happening. ‘Fear the Unknown’, along with ‘Black’, were two of the first songs I wrote for this album.”
Watch the lyric video for Fear Of The Unknown below
Romeo recorded the bulk of War of the Worlds / Pt. 1 over a year-and-a-half period in the comfort of his home studio (nicknamed “the Dungeon” by his wife) in Hazlet, New Jersey. The project gave him the perfect opportunity to work with the rising Long Island star Castellano, a singer he’s had his eye on for some time, as well as fellow Jerseyans Macaluso and Black Label Society member DeServio. “JD and I went to high school together,” Romeo notes. “We always wanted to do something together, so this was the perfect opportunity. The planets finally aligned, and we were able to work together. It was great to have him play on it.”
Symphony X fans have been waiting two decades for an honest to goodness Michael Romeo solo album (not counting his 1994 demo recording, The Dark Chapter, which was released in several countries), and the arrival of War of the Worlds / Pt. 1 will be no doubt be cause for celebration. And the guitarist promises a sequel – “Most of Part II is already finished,” he says, “It just needs a few vocals, a couple solos, a few tweaks here and there. I want people to absorb the first one for a while, and then we’ll put out the second record. They’ll complement each other, but they’ll also be a bit different.”
