Michael Romeo is back! Four years after his first proper solo album, “War of the Worlds, Pt. 1” was released, the sequel is finally among us. Romeo kept the same rhythm session as the first album – bassist John ‘JD’ DeServio and drummer John Macaluso – but added singer Dino Jelusick to the fold. The new release, “War of the Worlds, Pt. 2” maintains the same mix of styles of the first one, with heavy riffing and light speed solos being put side by side with orchestrations, Middle Eastern motifs and cinematic passages.
Lyrically, Romeo explores similar themes from Part I: the clash between robots and humans, alien invasions, conflicting views and divided societies. His shredding is properly complimented by Dino’s wails and supported by JD’s reliable four-string plucking and Macaluso’s frantic drumming. Sprinkled throughout the album are homages to Romeo’s influences: Rush, Kansas, Slayer, Beethoven, John Williams, Danny Elfman and many more. Heavy numbers such as “Divide & Conquer” and “Parasite” are placed alongside vignettes like “Hunted” and “Brave New World”, with some call backs to the themes of the first album thrown in for good measure. The beautiful ballad “Just Before the Dawn” is added halfway through, providing a break from all the heaviness.
As explained by Romeo, he had stems and ideas about how the songs should be, but he gave plenty of freedom for the other players to add their own spin to the material. The end result is very cohesive, and both albums listened to back to back provide an intense and dramatic journey. Sonic Perspectives collaborator Rodrigo Altaf spoke to Romeo one more time, and discussed several aspects of “War of the World Pt. 2” with the guitarist, and also the upcoming Symphony X tour, the plans for a new album and much more. As usual remember that for more interviews and other daily content, make sure to follow Sonic Perspectives on Facebook, Flipboard and Twitter and subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified about new interviews and contents we publish on a daily basis.
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