SONS OF APOLLO Release Official Lyric Video For ‘Asphyxiation’ Track
February 24th, 2020
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American progressive metal supergroup Sons Of Apollo have released an official lyric video for the track ‘Asphyxiation’, which can be viewed below.
Sons Of Apollo issued second full-length studio album MMXX (pronounced: 20/20) on January 17th, 2020 through InsideOut Music / SonyMusic.
“Stylistically, we have followed the same path as the debut,” outlined drummer Mike Portnoy. “But we feel that it has come out stronger, simply because we know one another better. Psychotic Symphony 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,” added 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 writing process began at the start of the year, as Portnoy, Sherinian and guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal got together. “The three of us were at my home studio in Pennsylvania,” explained Portnoy. “And it took about three weeks to get all the music written. That was a very smooth process. The last time, it certainly must have felt a little weird for Bumblefoot to be writing with Derek and me, because we were strangers to him. Now, we know one another better and that helped things push along.”
“Because we all have our home studios, it meant everyone could record there as and when they had opportunity,” continued Sherinian. “We all had the luxury of being able to take our time to get all the parts done, which was a huge help in the way the album’s come out. I suppose in all, it took about eight months to record everything.”
The lyrics were written by frontman Jeff Scott Soto, who also came up with the melody lines with input from Sherinian. “While Jeff was left to come up with the words on his own, as the melody lines are part of the music, it made sense for me to be involved with that part,” said the keyboard player.
There are eight tracks on MMXX, with variations in length totalling 60 minutes. “The final song is ‘New World Today’, which is 16 minutes long,” said 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.”
“We wanted to do something epic here, as we did with ‘Opus Maximus’ last time around,” added Sherinian. “You have to remember that Mike and I come from Dream Theater, where we never bothered about how long a song was. So, for us doing a 16 minute track is not a problem.”
The album title was inspired by a simple chronological fact. “This will be released in mid-January 2020,” said Portnoy. “That means it will be one of the first releases in what is a new decade. So I came up with the idea of calling it ‘2020’, except having it written in the Latin form of ‘MMXX’.”
Meanwhile, the album’s artwork has been created by Thomas Ewerhard (who was responsible for the cover design of Psychotic Symphony), which inevitably reflects the title. As Portnoy explained: “For the first record, we had a mythological feel. This time around though, there’s a much more futuristic style to what we’ve got. It has a very 21st century appeal. And the band crest is more polished, cleaned up and a lot more modern than last time, when it had an old fashioned look.”
“Each member of this band has their own signature sound on their instrument,” added Sherinian. “And when you put all of this together what you get is a wonderful five-headed beast. It makes this a sonically special band, which is definitely what comes across on MMXX. You can hear odd time signatures and amazingly crazy performances here. Overall, we’ve been satisfyingly more adventurous this time than we were before, and I know people are sure to love what we’ve done.”
Sons Of Apollo have dedicated the song ‘Desolate July’ to bassist David “Z” Zablidowsky (Trans-Siberian Orchestra / SOTO / Adrenaline Mob), who tragically died in a vehicle accident on July 14th, 2017. “From the few seconds of hearing this song, it guided me to write the lyrics about our dear friend and colleague, David Z,” revealed Soto. “David was one of the greatest, funniest and kindest humans I have ever known, he had friendships with most all of us in Sons Of Apollo, but Mike and I were certainly the closest. I thought it fitting to include this tribute to him from us in this haunting, incredible body of music.”
MMXX was produced by The Del Fuvio Brothers (Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian).
A 14 minute video interview in which the band members discuss the album can also be viewed below.
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Cover artwork was once again created by Thomas Ewerhard.
The track listing is as follows:
01. ‘Goodbye Divinity’
02. ‘Wither To Black’
03. ‘Asphyxiation’
04. ‘Desolate July’
05. ‘King Of Delusion’
06. ‘Fall To Ascend’
07. ‘Resurrection Day’
08. ‘New World Today’
Sons Of Apollo’s line-up is as follows:
Jeff Scott Soto (vocals, SOTO / W.E.T. / ex-Talisman / ex-Journey)
Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (guitar, Art Of Anarchy / ex-Guns N’ Roses)
Billy Sheehan (bass, The Winery Dogs / Mr. Big)
Mike Portnoy (drums, The Winery Dogs / ex-Dream Theater / ex-Adrenaline Mob)
Derek Sherinian (keyboards, Black Country Communion / ex-Dream Theater)
MMXX was made available as a standard CD, limited edition 2CD package (which includes instrumental mixes and a cappella excerpts), 2LP and CD package, and on all digital formats.
Music videos were filmed for the tracks ‘Goodbye Divinity’ and ‘Fall To Ascend’. In addition, an official lyric video was created for the song ‘Desolate July’. All three clips can also be viewed below.
Debut studio record Psychotic Symphony was released in October 2017 via InsideOut Music / SonyMusic.
Promotional photograph by Hristo Shindov.
