SOTO, the modern Heavy Metal / Hard Rock group featuring vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (ex Yngwie Malmsteen / Talisman / ex Journey, Sons Of Apollo, TSO, etc.), recently announced signing a new worldwide deal with InsideOutMusic.
Now they are pleased to reveal their new, third studio album ‘Origami‘ which will be released May 24th, 2019, and to celebrate they have launched the records first Single.
Watch the lyric video (Created by Cloud Music Typography) for ‘BeLie‘ now here:
SOTO comment about “BeLie“ from JSS as follows: “This is a song co-written with a long time collaborator of mine in Brazil, Leo Mancini, along with my drummer Edu Cominato. It had a very ‘Operation Mindcrime’ vibe to it musically when they presented me with the song so I knew I had to really think outside the box in making it not sound like a Queensryche song in the end. I love the middle section as it presents our new bassist, Tony Dickinson, to the world as a much needed entity in the band after losing our boy David Z. It serves as a great launching pad for ‘Origami’.”
‘Origami’ will be released as a limited digipak CD with a set of 3 stickers and a bonus track, 180g vinyl LP including the entire album on CD, and as digital download. The album comes packaged with classy artwork by Gustavo Sazes (Machine Head, Amaranthe, Arch Enemy).
The full track-listing of ’Origami‘ is as follows:
HyperMania
Origami
BeLie
World Gone Colder
Detonate
Torn
Dance With The Devil
AfterGlow
Vanity Lane
Give In To Me
KMAG * (Bonus Track)
SOTO started in 2015 derived from the ideal of Jeff Scott Soto wanting to return to his heavier roots. So far they released 2 albums, “Inside The Vertigo“ (2015) and “DIVAK“ (2016), taking a short break while Jeff embarked on the supergroup Sons Of Apollo, alongside Mike Portnoy, Derek Sherinian, Billy Sheehan and Bumblefoot.
Now SOTO are returning under the same umbrella as Sons Of Apollo, signing with InsideOutMusic. The new album “Origami“ contains material that continues to expand and move the band towards new heights whilst following up with their brand of Power Rock.
SOTO will hit South America for live dates in May and intend to be touring worldwide throughout 2019 following the release of the new album.
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to Sons of Apollo Singer Jeff Scott Soto at this years Hall of Heavy Metal History Gala on Jan 23 2019. Soto Spoke about his new Soto album as well as the musical direction of the new Sons of Apollo album that the band is currently working on. Plus thanked Yngwie Malmsteen in his induction speech.
Watch the interview here:
When asked about his lyrical contribution to Sons of Apollo
“I primarily write my ideas and what I feel then I send it to the guys and then we tweak it and craft it as a band. “
When asked if the new Sons of Apollo album will be a part 2 of the first album Psychotic Symphony
“I think the new album will be more of a part 2 or an extension than a departure. We are not looking to experiment or try something new We planted a seed and now we are growing the tree. “
When asked if he considers the band a super group
“The first thing we did when putting this together was we didn’t want to use the word super group, we did not want that label. We didn’t even want the pressure of that. We are trying to grow our own legs, our own sound with this band and not continue the legacy of our past bands and I think we accomplished that on the first record. “
When asked about the musical direction of the new songs and album
“Powerful, energetic, a lot of progy tendencies and bring a lot of classic and hard rock. We don’t even consider ourselves a prog band, we are a hard rock band with classic rock and prog tendencies. “
In Jeff Scott Soto induction speech at the Hall of Heavy Metal History
“There is this one guy I would really like to thank, this one person looked at me 35 years ago and said I’m going to give this 18 year old Puerto Rican kid with really shitty hair a chance to front me and take me to the next level of my solo career. This one guy everyone thinks we don’t get along but contrary to belief from this day forward I give nothing but love and respect Yngwie Malmsteen.”
SOTO, the modern Heavy Metal / Hardrock group featuring vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (ex Yngwie Malmsteen / Talisman / Journey, Sons Of Apollo, TSO, etc.), are pleased to announce the signing of a new worldwide deal with InsideOutMusic.
Jeff Scott Soto checked in with the following comment about the signing:“I am proud to have SOTO working with the great InsideOutMusic & their partners at Century Media Records and Sony Music. Having seen what we did together with Sons Of Apollo, I am thrilled to see what we’ll do to further my own vanity band SOTO into the future. It‘s a very exciting time in our lives and career!”.
SOTO started in 2015 derived from the ideal of Jeff Scott Soto wanting to return to his heavier roots. So far they released 2 albums, “Inside The Vertigo“ (2015) and “DIVAK“ (2016), taking a short break while Jeff embarked on the supergroup Sons Of Apollo, alongside Mike Portnoy, Derek Sherinian, Billy Sheehan and Bumblefoot.
Now SOTO are returning under the same umbrella as Sons Of Apollo, signing with InsideOutMusic. A new album is currently being worked on and its material will continue to expand and move the band towards new heights whilst following up with their brand of Power Rock.
SOTO also recently announced the newest member of the band, bassist Tony Dickinson, who coincidentally replaced the late David Z in the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Jeff explains, “It was the one, and only natural choice for us after losing our brother David in a horrific accident in 2017. Tony wrote, and played on two Singles for the first two SOTO albums, “The Fall“ and “FreakShow“. He is phenomenally talented, and a great friend. He’ll fit right in with us and I cannot wait to showcase more of his contributions as we move the band forward!”.
SOTO, which includes other members Jorge Salan (guitar), Edu Cominato (drums) and BJ (keys/guitar), will be touring throughout 2019 following the release of the still untitled new album as well as its corresponding singles and video clips.
Here are the next dates announced for SOTO in 2019:
SOTO – Live 2019:
17.02.2019 San Juan (Puerto Rico) – Handlebar
21.02.2019 Tampa (USA) – The Orpheum
24.-28.02.2019 Monsters Of Rock Cruise / https://monstersofrockcruise.com
More dates coming soon…
Stay tuned for more details about the upcoming SOTO album to be announced soon…
Last week saw the announcement of SONS OF APOLLO, the highly anticipated new band featuring former Dream Theater members Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (ex-Guns N’ Roses), Billy Sheehan (The Winery Dogs, Mr. Big, David Lee Roth) and Jeff Scott Soto (ex-Journey, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force). Their debut album ‘Psychotic Symphony’ is due for release on 20th October 2017 via InsideOutMusic / Sony, and now they are pleased to reveal their first track titled ‘Signs of the Time’.
Listen now here:
Mike comments: “Signs Of The Time was the very first thing myself, Derek & Bumblefoot wrote when we got together to begin writing for Sons Of Apollo in March of this year.
It starts with this heavy, brutal Bumbleriff (initally coined “Korntera”), then goes into a cool verse with a 2-Pt vocal melody that I wrote sung by Jeff and myself…which eventually opens up to a HUGE vocal hook in the chorus that Jeff wrote (sung in 3-Pt harmony by Jeff, myself and Bumblefoot)
The middle section riffs are a few things that Derek brought in and show why he is the most BADASS keyboard player in the biz (playing the keys like a guitar player on fire!) and then we have the long extended breakdown and guitar solo which shows why Bumblefoot is one of today’s greatest GUITAR HEROES! This album is going to get him the recognition he truly deserves and this particular guitar solo is one of the tastiest, most insane solos I’ve EVER heard…
So all in all, this song has a little bit of everything that makes Sons Of Apollo so special…great heavy riffs, amazing solos with individual instrumental virtuosity and a big, catchy chorus with more hooks than a tackle box!!
I figured this would be a great “first taste” to introduce the world to this amazing new supergroup…and there’s a whole lot more of different musical styles and twist & turns still to come all throughout the album…”
The debut album, PSYCHOTIC SYMPHONY is now available to pre-order on 2CD Mediabook (featuring a second disc of instrumental mixes), Gatefold 2LP vinyl + CD, Standard Jewelcase CD & digital download. Pre-order now here: http://smarturl.it/SonsOfApolloPS
The full track-listing is as follows:
1. God of The Sun
2. Coming Home
3. Signs of the Time
4. Labyrinth
5. Alive
6. Lost In Oblivion
7. Figaro’s Whore
8. Divine Addiction
9. Opus Maximus
An album teaser can be seen on InsideOutMusic’s YouTube page here:
PSYCHOTIC SYMPHONY was produced by the dynamic production duo of Portnoy and Sherinian, also affectionately known as “The Del Fuvio Brothers,” which is the nickname given to them over 20 years ago during their time together in Dream Theater.
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 & Sherinian shared together in Dream Theater combined with the swagger and groove of Van Halen, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin.
“I have known Mike and Derek for a long time, so when they came to me with Sons of Apollo, I jumped on this straight away,” says Thomas Waber, Label Manager/A&R International of InsideOutMusic. “However, the album they ended up recording exceeded my already high expectations by a long mile! We couldn’t be happier about it!”
SONS OF APOLLO will hit the road in 2018 for their first worldwide tour.
“This is a real band,” Portnoy declares. “This is going to pick up for me and Billy where The Winery Dogs left off, in terms of this being the next logical full-time thing for us. I’m not saying The Winery Dogs have broken up, because we haven’t, we’re just on a break. SONS OF APOLLO is absolutely going to be a full-time band and we plan on touring all over the world all throughout 2018 and, honestly, it is the priority for all five of us.”
Sherinian agrees, “We will go on a worldwide crusade in 2018 to bring SONS OF APOLLO to as many people as possible. Apollo was the God of Music, and we are his mighty offspring!”
The band SOTO, featuring veteran vocalist Jeff Scott Soto, recently parted ways with their label, earMusic, after 2 slamming albums – Inside The Vertigo and DIVAK. The band is in preparations for additional touring in 2017 beginning February 10 in Wolverhampton, U.K.In addition, the band is working on their 3rd album, while locking in a new home for it.
SOTO stated on their Facebook Page:
“Huge thanks to earMUSIC for helping us break out, now we’re aiming to take it to another level!!!”
Coming off a busy year of touring world-wide, the band will hit the studio to write, and record much anticipated new music. This third, yet untitled album, will follow up both Inside The Vertigo and DIVAK with a much heavier direction than the previous two albums.
The current guitarist for WHITESNAKE, Joel Hoekstra is still maybe best known for NIGHT RANGER, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA and as well as from the show “Rock Of Ages”, but from now on, surely also for his new side project JOEL HOEKSTRA’S 13, set to release a new melodic hard rock studio album “Dying To Live” on October 16th, via Frontiers Music. JOEL HOEKSTRA’S 13 has a stellar line-up, besides Joel himself, the band features Jeff Scott Soto and Russell Allen on lead vocals, Vinny Appice on drums and Tony Franklin on bass.
Just a couple of days ago Tarja Virmakari had a nice chat with Joel, talking in detail about his JOEL HOEKSTRA’S 13. Joel revealed many details about this new project, and how it all started, and of course Tarja and Joel discussed the upcoming album. Tarja also asked “if we will we see him playing on stage and touring with JOEL HOEKSTRA’S 13?”, along with the curiosity of the number “13”. Among other topics were of course WHITESNAKE and their recent First Leg North American tour… to discover Joel’s answers, please join the chat below.
Album Tracklisting:
1.Say Goodbye To The Sun
2.Anymore
3.Until I Left You
4.Long For The Days
5.Scream
6.Never Say Never
7.Changes
8.The Only Way To Go
9.Dying To Live
10.Start Again
11.What We Believe
12.Kill or Be Killed (Bonus Track digital download)
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 