CD/DVD Releases: New Sons Of Apollo Album To Rise January 17, 2020
Speaking of Mike Portnoy, the other project he is involved in, Sons Of Apollo, will be releasing MMXX on January 17 via InsideOut Music. This is their second studio release, following on the heels of the live release Live With The Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony (Aug 2019). You can watch a video for the first single, Goodbye Divinty below.
About the track, Mike Portnoy comments, "From the minute we finished writing 'Goodbye Divinity,' I knew we had our album opener and the first release off the album. I even remember posting on social media how excited I was about the song the day I tracked it! The song has an immediacy that grabs you right away: great riffs, flashy playing and hooky vocal melodies. All of the elements that make up the SOA sound.
The video was directed by Vicente Cordero who I have now done over 20 music videos with and its look helps catapult the band from the Greek mythological past of the last album into the 21st century with this new album."
“Stylistically, we have followed the same path as the debut," says Portnoy. "But we feel that it has come out stronger, simply because we know one another better. Psychotic Symphony [their debut] was the first time the five of us had worked together, so there was bound to be an air of experimentation happening. Now, we can draw on having the experience not only of recording that album, but also of touring together a lot. And now there is clearly a lot more obvious chemistry going on.”
"We did 83 shows on the last tour,” adds keyboardist Derek Sherinian. "And it was so worthwhile, because we came out of it with a stronger bond, and that is certainly reflected in what we wrote."
"“The final song is 'New World Today,' which is 16 minutes long,” says Portnoy. “This one has elements similar to 'Opus Maximus' and 'Labyrinth' on the previous album. It has some insane, brilliant instrumental moments, which I am sure the fans will love."
MMXX will be released as a standard CD, however, there will be a limited edition 2CD set where the second CD contains instrumental mixes and a cappella excerpts. There's a 2LP + CD version and, of course, digital formats.
Tracklisting: Goodbye Divinity (7:16) / Wither To Black (4:48) / Asphyxiation (5:09) / Desolate July (6:11) / King Of Delusion (8:49) / Fall To Ascend (5:07) / Resurrection Day (5:51) / New World Today (16:38)
Sons Of Apollo are: Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), Derek Sherinian (keyboards), Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (guitars, vocals), Billy Sheehan (bass) and Jeff Scott Soto (vocals).
[Our take: pretty cool - heavy and catchy, epic chorus sure to create an earworm or two. -ed.]
[Source: (quotes) InsideOut Music]