Sons Of Apollo
Psychotic Symphony

Often, the accusations that can be made against a supergroup are those of "using" the respective names and careers of each member to their advantage, in order to generate discussion about the said group even before the release of the debut album. Needless to say, all of this reflects on the number of copies the album will sell and the attendance at the concerts during the supporting tour. However, it is also true that the presence of important names within a band inevitably raises the expectations of paying fans who, in one way or another, hope to be presented with good work from their favorite artist. And in this band, there are important names, damn, if there are. This is yet another project featuring Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, Transatlantic, Winery Dogs, etc.) behind the drums, accompanied by the virtuosic bassist Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big, Steve Vai, Winery Dogs, etc.), Derek Sherinian on keyboards (also a former Dream Theater member, with numerous collaborations with people like Alice Cooper, Kiss, Billy Idol, etc.), guitarist Bumblefoot (famous for playing with Guns 'n' Roses) and finally Jeff Scott Soto (Talisman, Malmsteen), who is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and versatile voices in the modern rock-metal scene. Under the moniker "Sons Of Apollo," these five technique monsters have brought to life their debut album, "Psychotic Symphony," an album of the purest Prog Metal state. As I mentioned earlier, such a stellar lineup would raise the expectations of any good music fan, and maybe that's the problem with this record. To be clear, the album in question is not bad, on the contrary, it is quite enjoyable and offers excellent insights... nevertheless, this album tends to disappear when compared with similar albums by other artists. So why? What do these five stellar musicians have to envy about younger bands or historic bands' superior albums to this one? I think the main problem with this platter is "mimicking" other Prog Metal bands. With the album's listening, it is almost impossible not to notice the similarities (especially in the guitar sound in the rhythm phase and the drums) with Dream Theater during the Systematic Chaos era, as well as the structure of some songs that quite resembles Symphony X (especially those from the heavier shift that characterized Romeo's band from Paradise Lost onwards), all mixed with monstrous technical prowess and excellent production. There is a feeling that our artists preferred to give the listener something "already heard," rather than do something bolder (let's remember that experimentation is at the core of Prog) and maybe more sophisticated, and the presence of easily digestible singles like "Alive" or "Coming Home" certainly doesn't help from this perspective. I reiterate that this is not a bad album and is very enjoyable to listen to, if only to savor the technical skill of these guys, but we are simply facing the usual Prog Metal album that adds nothing new to the history of the said genre. If this album had come from a group of fledgling musicians, we might almost shout a miracle, but from musicians of this caliber, it was logical to expect more. Not rejected, but "postponed with full marks."