SONS OF APOLLO — the progressive metal supergroup featuring former DREAM THEATER bandmates Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian, as well as bassist Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS), guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (GUNS N' ROSES) and vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (JOURNEY, TALISMAN, W.E.T.) — has released the official music video for the song "Signs Of The Time". The track is taken from SONS OF APOLLO's debut album "Psychotic Symphony", which came out last October via InsideOut Music. It sold around 5,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release, earning the band the top position on Billboard's Heatseekers chart, which focuses on top-selling albums by new or developing acts, defined as those who have never appeared on the top 100 of the Billboard 200. Portnoy says: "The 'Signs Of The Time' video was shot on the recent U.S. tour and is a good taste of what the band is like on stage. "We are about to embark on the band’s first tour of Europe and the U.K. and can't wait to bring this five-headed musical monster to our fans overseas all throughout the summer." SONS OF APOLLO got together very organically, as Portnoy explains: "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." "Mike and I work at a relentless pace in the studio," continues Sherinian. "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!" But what to call the next great supergroup? "Derek was mainly the one behind the name," says Portnoy. "I have a list that I keep on my phone of about a hundred different band names, which I constantly have to refer to every time I have a new band every year. [Laughs] So, I pulled up the list and APOLLO was one of the names on the list. It was a word that both of us really liked. We started fiddling with different variations of the word. One of the original band names we were working with was APOLLO CREED, the character from the 'Rocky' movies, but after lots of different discussions on different variations, Derek suggested SONS OF APOLLO and it seemed to stick. Apollo is the God of music so with that in mind it seemed like a fitting name." Mike Portnoy, Derek Sherinian and Billy Sheehan previously toured together in 2012 and 2013 as PSMS (along with guitarist Tony MacAlpine), playing all instrumental versions from each of their previously recorded music. SONS OF APOLLO is the next logical progression by adding a vocalist and creating all-original material. The band incorporates the progressive style and individual technical prowess that Portnoy and Sherinian shared together in DREAM THEATER combined with the swagger and groove of VAN HALEN, DEEP PURPLE and LED ZEPPELIN.
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