Scott's Spotlight #42- Sons of Apollo
Originally Posted to Facebook on August 28, 2025
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Welcome to Scott’s Spotlight (#scottsspotlight) issue #42. For more information about this series, please click here:
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Today, I’ll shine the spotlight on Sons of Apollo, which I’m sure they are used to, since Apollo is a sun god. For clarity, there are two Sons of Apollo bands. One is from New Zealand and released at least one pretty good proggy album in 2010 called “The Landing”. (see: https://www.muzic.nz/artists/sons-of-apollo/ for more info on that band). This is NOT the band I am referring to. The one I am spotlighting was formed in 2017 and is a prog-metal supergroup, featuring Mike Portnoy (drums), Billy Sheehan (bass), Derek Sherinian (keys), Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (guitar) and Jeff Scott Soto (vocals).
The path that led to this lineup of stellar musicians is a bit of a spider-web. After Mike Portnoy left Dream Theater in 2010, he became involved in many other projects. One of which is The Winery Dogs, which included Billy Sheehan (of Talas, Mr. Big and the David Lee Roth Band, among others) on bass along with Ritchie Kotzen (Solo, Poison and briefly in Mr. Big) on guitar and vocals. (Winery Dogs are a likely future Spotlight.) Also in 2012, Portnoy pulled together Sheehan, guitar virtuoso Tony MacAlpine (Solo, Planet X and CAB) and former Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Also with Black Country Communion, Planet X and Billy Idol’s band, among others) in a project called PSMS. The original purpose was for the band to play with Portnoy at the January NAMM show for a drum workshop in January of that year. The response to this line up was very positive and so they played a few shows, and there was apparently a live album released in 2013 from a show in Tokyo in November of 2012. Portnoy says that even though MacAlpine didn’t join Sons of Apollo, he is still part of the band’s DNA. During that tour, Sherinian asked Portnoy if he’d be interested in forming something more full-time together. Portnoy agreed, once he was available after other projects he had already scheduled. It took a few years to get it all together, but eventually they were joined by Sheehan. Next, Portnoy suggested Thal (ex- Guns & Roses- "Chinese Democracy” era), with whom he had worked with in another supergroup called Metal Allegiance. The final piece of the puzzle came when Portnoy suggested Jeff Scott Soto (Yngwie Malmsteen, Journey, Talisman, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, solo and more) as the lead vocalist, after Soto’s solo band opened for Winery Dogs during a South American tour. The line-up was in place by the end of 2016.
The name was suggested by Sherinian after he saw “Apollo” on a list of band names that Portnoy had. They figured that Apollo had already been used by a band, so they chose Sons of Apollo after brainstorming various ideas. Apparently, they didn’t know about the New Zealand band I mentioned above.
By October of 2017, Sons of Apollo released their first album, called “Psychotic Symphony”. The band’s website describes the album as being like a cross between Dream Theater style prog-metal and power metal. The album has 9 tracks, three of which are nine minutes in length or longer: “The God of the Sun” (11:12), "Labyrinth" (9:23), and “Opus Maximus” (10:39). I have also enjoyed the shorter “Coming Home”. The album was received fairly well, and has a score of 3:49 out of 5 stars on Prog Archives.
In 2019, they released a live album called “Live with the Plodiv Psychotic Symphony”. The album was recorded with a full orchestra and choir in September of 2018 in Plodiv, Bulgaria at the Ancient Roman Theater. The album contains the songs from the “Psychotic Symphony” album, three Dream Theater songs (“Just Let Me Breathe”, “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Lines in the Sand”). Additionally, there are several covers of classic rock songs, including “Dream On” by Aerosmith, “Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin, and “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd. The album got a better reception than the studio album on Prog Archives with a score of 4.25 out of 5 stars.
In 2020, they would release what would turn out to be their final album “MMXX”. The album has 8 tracks including the 15:50 epic “New World Today”. There is also a nearly 9-minute track called “King of Delusion”. I have also enjoyed “Desolate July” and “Fall to Ascend”. The album has mixed reviews, faring a bit lower on PA at 3.38 out of 5 stars. Portnoy and Sherinian have each said that they felt it was better than the first, as the band had played more than 80 shows by that time, and had gelled.
In late 2023, it was announced that Portnoy was returning to Dream Theater, which seems to have put an end to Sons of Apollo. Sherinian and Thal, however, have created a new band called Whom Gods Destroy, which released a debut album in 2024 called “Insanium.”
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Be sure to check out the “LINKS FOR LISTENING” below.
Prog On!
Scott
LINKS FOR LISTENING:
From “Psychotic Symphony”
“The God of the Sun”
“Opus Maximus”
From “MMXX”
“King of Delusion”
“New World Today”
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