The Dark Chapter is the first studio album by Symphony X guitarist Michael Romeo, released in April 1994 through Zero Corporation (Japan)[1] and reissued in 2000 through InsideOut Music (Europe).

Originally recorded in 1992 as a demo tape which Romeo had sent out to various guitar publications, the album that would eventually become The Dark Chapter garnered the attention of a Japanese record label named Zero Corporation, who expressed an interest in further material.

[2] Romeo then joined up with keyboardist Michael Pinnella to re-record the album for a CD release through Zero in 1994, after which both musicians went on to form Symphony X.

Several of the track titles are references to works by Edgar Allan Poe, such as "The Cask of Amontillado", "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Premature Burial".

Most of the other track titles bear cryptic meanings: "Sevil Alucard" reads "Dracula Lives" spelled backwards (a possible reference to Dracula Lives!, a short-lived magazine by Marvel Comics); "MJR #13" is an abbreviation of the initials of Romeo's full name, Michael James Romeo; "Noit Al Ever" reads "Revelation" spelled backwards.