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★★☆☆ Symphony X continue their lifelong reappropriation of prog metal tropes, but whereas they pulled it off with aplomb on their previous album “Iconoclast,” this time around the results inspire less forgiveness. Maybe part of the problem is that the album starts out with a truly unconvincing Overture. Or maybe it’s the limp ballad-by-the-numbers “Without You.” It’s certainly nothing to do with the musicianship or riffage, both of which are outstanding (as you’d expect from this band); but those two factors are not enough to get me to care about the rest, one way or another.

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