All This and War of the Worlds, Pt. II

For his latest solo album, Symphony x Shredder Michael Romeo returns to the H.G. Wells of inspiration

- By Joe Bosso

MIXING MYTHOLOGICAL AND fantasy literature with progressive metal is nothing new to Michael Romeo. Since 1994, the guitar star has guided his New Jersey-based band Symphony X through a series of albums based on the classic works of Homer (The Odyssey), Milton (Paradise Lost) and Dante (The Divine Comedy).

“I always wanted to say something a little more interesting than ‘Let’s get up and party!’” Romeo says. “Some of the themes in classic works are just as relevant today as when they first appeared. Plus, when you’re dealing with heavy concepts, it gives you a roadmap for writing music. You don’t have to just do verse, chorus, verse, chorus. You can do whatever you want and write stuff that's really big.” Back in 2018, Romeo took time away from Symphony X and released a wildly extravagant solo album based on H.G. Wells’ sci-fi masterwork, The War of the Worlds, only the guitarist rather cheekily stuck a Pt. I at the end of the title. “That was kind of subtle, huh?” he laughs. “I always planned a two-parter. For the first one, I wrote so much music, and I didn’t want it to go to waste. So now it’s a few years later, and we have the companion piece.”