Sons of Apollo's 'MMXX' - Album Review

Supergroups can often be quite hit and miss. Quite often great bands are more than the sum of their parts, and the magic comes from the combination of the brains involved rather than any one particular creative force. As a result, not every combination of musicians is going to lead to a great band - with personalities and musical styles not always meshing together, despite how great the combination might seem on paper. One such supergroup that has delivered the goods so far however is Sons of Apollo, a progressive metal five-piece that was formed in 2017 by former Dream Theater members Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian. While Sherinian's involvement with Dream Theater was relatively small in the context of the band's history, Portnoy was one of the band's founding members - and one of their main driving forces until his departure in 2010. After leaving Dream Theater, Portnoy immersed himself in a number of projects - some of which were vastly different from the progressive metal he made his name with. He seemed to enjoy turning his hand to a number of different styles, but after a while it seemed he felt the call of the progressive metal world again. Following a tour as part of the short-lived instrumental fusion group PSMS, Portnoy and Sherinian (who was also part of PSMS) decided to form a new group to go back to their progressive metal roots - and Sons of Apollo was born. Bass legend Billy Sheehan also came across from PSMS, with frontman Jeff Scott Soto and guitarist Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal added to the line-up to complete the band. Despite the promise that Sons of Apollo offered however, I was a bit of a latecomer to their 2017 debut album Psychotic Symphony. If I recall correctly, the album came out during a very busy part of the year for new releases and it was one that I did not get around to picking up until a little later. As a result, I did not review the album for this blog (although I did briefly talk about it here) but I would have been very complimentary about it if I had had the chance to properly digest the album at the time of its release. The great thing about Sons of Apollo is that they do not sound just like a 'Dream Theater 2'. Of course there are occasional similarities, but on the whole Sons of Apollo are a bit of a tougher band overall - with an organic, retro-sounding production style. Sherinian is a big fan of retro keyboards, so there are Hammond organs and old synths all over the band's songs, and Soto's voice lends itself to the tougher, yet somewhat hollow-sounding style that Sons of Apollo have cooked up. It is now three years on from Psychotic Symphony and the band have once again pooled their collective resources for their sophomore release MMXX, which seems to pick up exactly where the previous album left off. There are no drastic changes to be found here, but MMXX sees Sons of Apollo further honing their take on progressive metal - with a collection of memorable tunes housed within.

The album kicks off with Goodbye Divinity, which also acted as the album's lead single and overall is a good representation of the band's sound. The song opens with a slow-paced and hypnotic guitar/keyboard melody, which Portnoy soon backs up with some sparse drumming - before the track opens up with Thal's soaring guitar lead over the top of a sombre beat. This is just the song's intro however, as the rest of the track is much weightier - with a crunching guitar riff soon kicking in as Portnoy lays down a tough, heavy drum beat. Those familiar with Psychotic Symphony will instantly be familiar with the style employed here. Soto's slightly bluesier voice helps the track to remain gritty, especially during the fairly simple verses which see Thal's crunching guitar rhythms base the song - while Sherinian adds the occasional burst of Deep Purple-esque Hammond. Catchy choruses are not always the band's wheelhouse, but being a single the track makes a melodic statement with a fairly stadium-worthy addition that sees Portnoy and Thal harmonising well with Soto to great effect. The chorus is one that sticks in the head nicely, which really helps to draw the listener into the album. Being a true 'prog' band, catchy melodies are not always Sons of Apollo's biggest priority, but Soto still knows how to craft a strong pop hook when one is required. The prog die-hards however will really love the song's instrumental section, which sees Sherinian really going to town on his bank of retro keyboards. The warm synth sounds really cut through the heavy mix, with a great use of old-school vibes throughout his solo section. Wither to Black is much heavier overall, and opens with a punchy Portnoy drum beat before a great old-school Uriah Heep-esque guitar/Hammond riff kicks in to drive the song forward. This is one of the most all-out metal tracks on the album, with a great driving energy throughout and a big booming drum presence from Portnoy. He is not laying down the most complex of beats here, but his presence really drives the track - while Thal lays down appropriately-heavy riffs to compliment his playing. Many of the tracks here have some light and shade to them, but this song is largely all shade as it focuses on creating a heavy atmosphere. A simple chorus provides some strong melodies for Soto to sink his teeth into, but this is largely a track for the instrumentalists to let their hair down. Sheehan's bass is high in the mix, which helps the heavy vibe further, while Sherinian and Thal trade crazy shredded licks about two-thirds of the way through in a great exercise of old-school excess. Asphyxiation is another pretty all-out track, with discordant guitar riffing kicking things off before a crunching verse takes over with Portnoy's double bass drumming keeping everything ticking along. There are strong Pantera-esque grooves to be found here, with all of the band's four musicians locked in perfectly to the groove while Soto barks the lyrics atop them all. There also seems to be the odd nod to the current tech metal scene at times throughout the song, especially in Thal's riffing. The mechanical riffing gives the song its character, but Sherinian's retro keyboard sounds help the track from crossing over into full-on djent territory. It is a great mesh of styles that work well together, and is another strong heavy track within the band's canon.

Desolate July has a bit more 'light' to it than much of what has come previously on the album, and is Soto's tribute to his former band-mate David Z., who tragically died in a tour bus crash in 2017. While not strictly a ballad, the song is much slower paced than much of the album and it opens slowly with some beautiful piano melodies and emotional vocals. The verses tend to be quite sparse, with Sherinian's piano lines dominating while Portnoy lays down a sombre drum beat. The choruses are a little heavier, with Thal's heavy guitar rhythms kicking in and Hammond replacing the piano. Given the song's subject matter, the lyrics are unsurprisingly very poignant which gives Soto something weighty to get his head around. As a result, he injects some real emotion into his delivery, which helps elevate the track further - as does Thal's guitar solo which is a little more restrained than usual. It is a powerful song, and provides a bit of a change of pace after the three much heavier and pummelling opening tracks. King of Delusion also opens with an extended piano workout, but this is much more upbeat and jazz-fusion inspired than the more traditional opening to the previous track. It is clear throughout the album how much of the material comes from Sherinian, as his keyboards are all over the album - and he also takes plenty of opportunities to solo. Despite the fusion-esque intro, the track morphs into another heavy one when it gets going proper as Thal's sledgehammer riff kicks in. It is a brooding, mid-paced slab of metal - with Sherinian's Hammond constantly growling away in the background while Sheehan's bass adds weight. This is a song that has continued to grow on me the more I have listened to the album, as at first I felt it was a bit plodding. The pace is a little on the deliberate side at times, but on the whole I think it works well and helps to really emphasise the grooves and atmosphere of the track - especially when listening to Sherinian's contributions. It helps that occasionally the tracks drops back to its piano roots for a little change of sound - with a few portions of the track towards the heavily featuring the piano, either alone or high in the mix of a doomy, grimy riff that has real primal power behind it. The fusion elements of the track really give the track an off-kilter, progressive edge - and it is another strong entry in the band's growing repertoire. Fall to Ascend reigns in the progressive excess a little and goes for a more straightforward metal style, with a strong chorus contained within and some more examples of the slightly tech metal-esque riffing showcased earlier. While Sons of Apollo are all extremely accomplished musicians, who can easily whip up a lengthy progressive instrumental section or arrangement with ease, they also seem to enjoy writing these somewhat more restrained pieces which are built around catchy grooves and good old-fashioned metal energy. The chorus here is one of the album's most instantly memorable moments, and some of the riffing here is properly heavy - with Portnoy really laying into his double bass pedals throughout to keep the energy levels up. The craziest moments here however are definitely Thal and Sherinian's solos - which are both all-out shred-fests featuring a lot of notes and speed-limit breaking runs. Hearing the two go at it is always enjoyable, and their styles seem to really compliment each other well.

Resurrection Day is another relatively straight-ahead metal track that is something of the 'calm before the storm' before the album's lengthy closing track. Despite seeming fairly straightforward on the surface, there is still quite a lot going on in the track. The verses and choruses are quite simple, with a zippy energy present throughout and some tight riffing, but some of the bridging instrumental sections are quite knotty with some jazzy little riffs that are quite catchy. There are lots of little melodic moments to be found throughout the track which help keep things interesting - with Soto adding to this with some strong chorus melodies that fit well against the somewhat murky backdrop that the chorus presents. The lengthy solo section is also excellent, which starts out with Thal laying down a somewhat bluesy pattern of notes before both Sherinian and Sheehan take things further with some excellent flurries of notes. The eight-track album comes to a close with the fifteen minute-plus New World Today, the longest Sons of Apollo track to date and a great example of modern progressive metal. The song opens slowly, with Sherinian's keyboards creating a strong atmospheric soundscape which Thal spacily solos atop, before a pompous keyboard riff takes over and the main meat of the track starts. While Sherinian's keyboards are a big part of the band's sound, it is not too often that one of his riffs leads the charge. His riff here has a great old-school Styx/Kansas vibe, with some soaring guitar leads to go with it, but this feeling is fairly short-lived as another mid-paced Thal riff soon takes over the band's traditional sound is back - with the growling Hammond once again backing everything up. Being a long track, there is unsurprisingly a lot going on throughout the song - but there are still plenty of easy hooks to get into on the surface. Soto's chorus is another strong one that begs to be sung, and there are quite a few other moments vocally that stand out - with an epic-sounding bridge bringing the best out of him as a vocalist before the song really changes course and a fast-paced buzzing metal riff kicks in to up the pace. There are moments in this song that are probably the heaviest that Sons of Apollo have ever sounded, and it is great that this seems to be the direction that the band seems to want to go. There were heavy moments on the first album, but there seems to be a conscious move towards heavier territory here without ever really affecting the band's core sound. The dry, hollow-sounding production actually suits this heavier sound well, and I imagine that if the band ever get around to writing a third album then we will see even more of this heaviness - which certainly suits Soto's grittier vocal style than any more melodic style (e.g. a Dream Theater-esque sound) ever would. Being a longer track, there is a lot of room for soloing - with Thal, Sheehan, and Sherinian all getting plenty of opportunities to show off. Sheehan seems to have been less involved with this album overall as he is not credited with any of the songwriting at all, so it is great to hear his bass shoved into the foreground occasionally to allow his unique style to be showcased. It is a great track that showcases all five members of the band at their best, and I imagine it will be a beast when played live. Overall, MMXX is a great follow-up album from Sons of Apollo and one that further hones their sound while adding a little more crunch throughout. This is certainly a metal album first and foremost, although the progressive and fusion elements help to keep things interesting and add some variation to the songwriting. This is a band that certainly seems to have legs, and I hope there is more to come from these five in the future.

The album was released on 17th January 2020 via InsideOut Music. Below is the band's promotional video for Goodbye Divinity.