''The Symbol Remains'' is the fourteenth studio album by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American rock band formed on Long Island, New York, in the hamlet of Stony Brook, in 1967. They have sold 25 million records worldwide, including 7 million in the United States. ...

, released on October 9, 2020. The album title comes from a lyric in the song "Shadow of California" on the band's 1983 LP '' The Revölution by Night''. This is the band's first studio release since 2001's '' Curse of the Hidden Mirror'', making it the band's longest gap between studio albums. It also marks the recording debut by long-time members Jules Radino and Richie Castellano, as well as the first studio album since 1985's ''

Club Ninja ''Club Ninja'' is the tenth studio album by American rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released on December 10, 1985, in the United Kingdom and on February 11, 1986, in the United States. The album was intended as a comeback for the band, whose previo ...

'' to not feature

Allen Lanier Allen Glover Lanier (; June 25, 1946 – August 14, 2013) was an American musician who played keyboards and guitar. He was an original member of Blue Öyster Cult. Early life and education Lanier was born in Birmingham, Alabama and later rel ...

, who died in 2013. The album entered the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart at No. 192, making it their first album to chart in the United States since '' Imaginos'' in August 1988.

Background

Low sales of the band's previous studio album, '' Curse of the Hidden Mirror'' (2001), contributed to their disinterest in recording new music. Frontman

Eric Bloom Eric Jay Bloom (born December 1, 1944) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-lead vocalist, guitar and keyboard/synthesizer player for the long-running band Blue Öyster Cult, with work on more than 20 albu ...

noted in 2017 that "it costs money to make a record" and that the time spent producing an album would be better spent touring "than making a record that nobody's going to buy." He did not completely rule out the possibility of the band going back to the studio. Lead guitarist

Buck Dharma Donald Roeser (born November 12, 1947), known professionally as Buck Dharma, is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is the sole constant member of hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult since the group's formation in 1967. He wrote and ...

stated in another interview that the band had "tentative" plans to record in 2017, and noted that the then-current band was "so good it would be a shame not to." Dharma also revealed that he had originally intended to contact longtime band manager and collaborator

Sandy Pearlman Samuel Clarke "Sandy" Pearlman (August 5, 1943 – July 26, 2016) was an American music producer, artist manager, music journalist and critic, professor, poet, songwriter, and record company executive. He was best known for founding, writing for, ...

about ideas for the album, but Pearlman's death in 2016 from a stroke prevented that from happening. In April 2019, Bloom said that a new album would eventually arrive, and announced that the band would "soon" be signing a new recording contract. In July 2019, it was announced that the band had signed with

Frontiers Records Frontiers Music (formerly Frontiers Records) is an Italian record label that primarily focuses on hard rock. The label was founded in 1996 by Serafino Perugino and is headquartered in Naples. History In 1996, Serafino Perugino began his care ...

and that the album would be released in 2020. Bloom noted that half the songs were already written, with the remaining portion to be written during production of the album.

Songs

Several singles and music videos were released to promote the album. On August 28, 2020, "That Was Me" and "Box in My Head" were released for streaming on YouTube. Several days later, a music video featuring former member

Albert Bouchard Albert Bouchard (; born May 24, 1947) is an American musician. He is a founding member and one of the first and most prominent drummers of the hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult and current drummer of The Dictators. He is the older brother of f ...

was released for the former. A video was released for "Box in My Head" on September 10. Additionally, the band released a video for "Tainted Blood" on September 25. On the day of the album's release, the band released a video for "The Alchemist". According to Buck Dharma, "Box in My Head" is about "trying to intrigue a lady" and that the mind is an "enigmatic and curious place." It features lyrics by novelist

John Shirley John Shirley (born February 10, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of horror, fantasy, science fiction, noir fiction, westerns, and songwriting. He has also written one historical novel, a western about Wyatt Earp, ''Wyatt in Wichita'', and ...

, a frequent collaborator with the band. "The Alchemist" references the H.P. Lovecraft short story ''

The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Ben ...

'', while "Florida Man" references the internet meme of the same name. The Castellano-penned "The Return of St. Cecilia" references a song from the

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

that the band recorded for Elektra Records in 1970 under the name "Stalk-Forrest Group." Another Castellano contribution, "The Machine," is about cell phones. A different recording of the song "Fight" had been released by Dharma in 2015, as a solo track. Additionally, demo recordings of two other songs, "Nightmare Epiphany" and "Secret Road" had been released in 2000 in an archive compilation released by Dharma. "Edge of the World" is a song about conspiracy theories and references alien abductions.

Reception

''The Symbol Remains'' has received a positive reception from critics, and "The Alchemist" was particularly praised. The album holds a 77/100 aggregate rating on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

as of January 2021. Dom Lawson of

Blabbermouth.net ''Blabbermouth.net'' is a website dedicated to metal and rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. It is run by the website's founder Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001. In October 2001, the rec ...

gave the album a positive review, citing songs like "Box in My Head" and "The Alchemist" as high points on the album. Scott McLennan of

The Arts Fuse ''The Arts Fuse'' is an online arts magazine covering cultural events in Greater Boston, as well as Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New York. The Arts Fuse has published more than 2,000 articles and ...

hailed "The Alchemist" as "a sprawling tale of a cursed monarchy, palace treachery, and sorcery", noting that Bloom's performance was at "peak harrowing form". McLennan also praised Dharma's "speedy country-rock

riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...

" playing on "Train True (Lennie's Song)". Thom Jurek of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

hailed the album as a "thoroughly inspired" return for the band, and compared the sound of many of the album's songs to Blue Öyster Cult's back catalogue, as well as groups like

Head East Head East is an American rock band from Illinois. The band was formed by singer John Schlitt, guitarist Danny Piper, keyboardist Roger Boyd, bassist Larry Boyd, and drummer Steve Huston. They met and formed the band while John, Roger, and La ...

and

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

. Writing for BraveWords,

Paul Stenning Paul David Stenning (born 12 June 1976) is an English author and ghostwriter. He has written twenty-nine books, of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and biography. The best-known of his books is ''The Robert Pattinson Album'', a biography of Robert P ...

cited the material as "memorable" and marked out "Nightmare Epiphany", "Edge of the World" and "Stand and Fight" as standout tracks. A review in '' Uncut'' cited "The Machine", "Stand and Fight" and "The Alchemist" as the album's best moments.

Track listing

Personnel

Band

– guitars, keyboards, vocals *

– guitars, keyboards, programming, vocals * Richie Castellano – guitars, keyboards, programming, vocals * Danny Miranda – bass guitar, backing vocals * Jules Radino – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional musicians

– backing vocals,

cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell (instrument), bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. ...

and percussion on "That Was Me" * Andy Ascolese – keyboards on "Nightmare Epiphany" and "Florida Man"; piano on "The Alchemist" * David Lucas – backing vocals on "Edge of the World", "The Machine", "Florida Man" and "Secret Road"; cowbell on "Fight" * Phil Castellano – harmonica on "Train True (Lennie's Song)"; gang vocals on "Stand and Fight"; backing vocals and claps on "Florida Man"; choir programming on "Secret Road" *

Kasim Sulton Kasim as a given name, a variant of Qasim. It may refer to: People known only by the given name Kasim *Kasım Pasha, Ottoman general and governor *Kasım of Karaman, the last bey of the Karaman Beylik, a Turkish principality in Anatolia *Şehza ...

– backing vocals on "The Return of St. Cecilia" and "There's a Crime" * Steve La Cerra – gang vocals on "Stand and Fight"; backing vocals and claps on "Florida Man" * Kevin Young – gang vocals on "Stand and Fight"; backing vocals and claps on "Florida Man" * John Castellano – backing vocal on "Florida Man" * Jeff Nolan –

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...

on "Fight"

Production

* Produced by Eric Bloom, Buck Dharma and Richie Castellano * Executive produced by Steve Schenck * Chief Engineer – Richie Castellano * Overdub engineering – Buck Dharma * Engineer – Sam Stauff * Assistant engineer – Steve La Cerra * Mixed by

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1962) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at Unique Recording in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...