Michael Romeo

Michael James Romeo (born March 6, 1968) is the guitarist and a founding member of the progressive metal group Symphony X.

Michael began playing guitar at age 14 and takes his influences from a wide of range sources including Randy Rhoads, Steve Vai, Marty Friedman, Al DiMeola, J.S. Bach, John Williams and Frank Zappa, although he draws most heavily from a neo-classical style reminiscent of Yngwie Malmsteen. Despite this, Michael manages to maintain an identifiable signature that sets him apart from other players in this genre by fusing exotic scales and arpeggios (such as the half-diminished, whole tone and Egyptian scale), non-standard rhythms, time signatures and a raw neo-classical edge. An element of jazz is also present in his music.