Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke to Sons of Apollo/Metal Allegiance and former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy at the NAMM 2018 on January 26th at the Tascam and Nuclear Blast booth. Portnoy talked about the formation of Metal Allegiance, Sons Of Apollo shows, and his 18-year-old son Max Portnoy following his dad’s footsteps as a drummer. Watch below.

When asked for some background on the Metal Allegiance, Portnoy reveals: “It started many years ago as a bunch of friends, me and the guys from Testament, Megadeth, Pantera and Anthrax, we are all buddies for so many years. We are all still Metal fans we still love KISS, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath, so we started doing these shows where we started jamming for fun, playing covers and after a few years, a few of us the core four, David Ellefson, myself, Alex Skolnick from Testament and Mark Menghi who is the mastermind behind it. The four of us decided let’s make an album of original music we did that with the first album a couple of years ago, great experience and now we have a second album coming out at the beginning of the summer. The Album is done and it will be out June 2018.”
 
When asked if Sons Of Apollo is a real band in the traditional sense: "I think Sons Of Apollo will be very similar to The Winery Dogs. Winery Dogs went on the road for years playing hundreds of shows really building up the fan base as a band. Sons Of Apollo will have the same work ethic. Everything I do there is a fine line between a project and a band, it’s just a title. To me everything I do is a band; it is just a question of how much we can work together. We are committed to it in Sons Of Apollo and we are going to spend all of 2018 on the road together.”

Portnoy recently revealed that one show on Sons Of Apollo's tour schedule will be on September 22nd in Plovdiv, Bulgaria at the Roman Amphitheater. It will be a special evening featuring the band performing with the Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony, and according to reports, Sons Of Apollo will perform two sets and film the show for a future live CD/DVD release. One set will be a very special set of cover songs.

Sons Of Apollo - 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) - will be hitting the road for their first-ever worldwide tour, which kicks off in Tampa, FL on February 3rd as part of the Cruise To The Edge, which will be sailing to Belize and Costa Maya. Once the cruise concludes, they’ll be performing in Miami, FL on February 9th as part of the Monsters Of Rock Cruise Pre-Show party.

As Mike Portnoy declares, "Ever since this lineup assembled to make Psychotic Symphony, the thing I’ve been most excited about is anticipating how insane I know this band is going to be on stage. Well, the wait is almost over! Here are the first US dates that will get to witness this ‘five-headed musical spectacle’ live on stage in February. We plan on being on tour all year long, all over the globe, with plenty of dates now being announced for summer festivals throughout Europe, but these are the very first shows that will get to witness this amazing lineup in person for the first time. We can’t wait!”

Check out Sons Of Apollo at any of the following stops, with more US shows to be announced.

February
3-8 - Tampa, FL - Cruise To The Edge
9 - Miami, FL - Magic City Casino/Monsters Of Rock Cruise Pre-show
11 - Orlando, FL - Plaza LIVE Orlando
12 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
13 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
15 - Asbury Park, NJ - House of Independents
16 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
17 - Battle Creek, MI - The Music Factory
18 - Joliet, IL - The Forge

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. Order the album here.

Tracklisting:

“God Of The Sun”
“Coming Home”
“Signs Of The Time”
“Labyrinth”
“Alive”
“Lost In Oblivion”
“Figaro's Whore”
“Divine Addiction”
“Opus Maximus”

“Lost In Oblivion” video:

“Coming Home” video: