Sons Of Apollo, a new progressive rock and metal supergroup featuring former Dream Theater members Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (ex-Guns N’ Roses), Billy Sheehan (The Winery Dogs, Mr. Big, David Lee Roth) and Jeff Scott Soto (ex-Journey, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force) have announced their début album, Psychotic Symphony, due for release on October 20 via InsideOutMusic/Sony. You can hear the first track, ‘Signs Of The Time’ below.
Mike Portnoy commented:
“’Signs Of The Time’ was the very first thing myself, Derek & Bumblefoot wrote when we got together to begin writing for SONS OF APOLLO in March of this year.
‘It starts with this heavy, brutal Bumbleriff (initially coined ‘Korntera’), then goes into a cool verse with a two-part vocal melody that I wrote sung by Jeff and myself, which eventually opens up to a HUGE vocal hook in the chorus that Jeff wrote (sung in three-part harmony by Jeff, myself and Bumblefoot).
“The middle section riffs are a few things that Derek brought in and show why he is the most BADASS keyboard player in the biz (playing the keys like a guitar player on fire!) and then we have the long extended breakdown and guitar solo which shows why Bumblefoot is one of today’s greatest GUITAR HEROES! This album is going to get him the recognition he truly deserves and this particular guitar solo is one of the tastiest, most insane solos I’ve EVER heard.
“So all in all, this song has a little bit of everything that makes SONS OF APOLLO so special…great heavy riffs, amazing solos with individual instrumental virtuosity and a big, catchy chorus with more hooks than a tackle box!!
“I figured this would be a great ‘first taste’ to introduce the world to this amazing new supergroup…and there’s a whole lot more of different musical styles and twist & turns still to come all throughout the album.”
The début album, Psychotic Symphony is now available to pre-order on 2CD Mediabook (featuring a second disc of instrumental mixes), Gatefold 2LP vinyl + CD, Standard Jewelcase CD & digital download. Pre-order now here: http://smarturl.it/SonsOfApolloPS.
Psychotic Symphony track listing:
1. God of The Sun
2. Coming Home
3. Signs of the Time
4. Labyrinth
5. Alive
6. Lost In Oblivion
7. Figaro’s Whore
8. Divine Addiction
9. Opus Maximus
An album teaser can be seen on InsideOutMusic’s YouTube page here:
Psychotic Symphony was produced by Portnoy and Sherinian, also affectionately known as “The Del Fuvio Brothers,” which is the nickname given to them over 20 years ago during their time together in Dream Theater.
Portnoy commented further:
“Derek and I reunited shortly after I left Dream Theater in 2010 and we put together an all-instrumental touring band with he and I, Billy Sheehan, and Tony MacAlpine. That was my first time working with Derek since the ‘90s when he was in Dream Theater and it was just great to be working with him again. Ever since that tour, which was really just a one-off live thing, he has been nudging me to start a real, original, full-time band. The timing just had never been right, because I had too many other things on my plate. Long story short, the time was finally right to take the bait and put together a band.”
Sherinian also weighed in:
“The music is modern, but we have an old-school soul. What is unique about SONS OF APOLLO is that we have true rock n’ roll swagger along with the virtuosity– a lethal combination!”