To mark the 25th anniversary of its release, seminal prog-rockers PALLAS have issued the long-awaited sequel their Sentinel album, entitled XXV, on Music Theories Recordings.

XXV picks up where The Sentinel, a concept album that incorporated a futuristic version of the tale of Atlantis along with Cold War-influenced themes, left off. The album's first track, 'Falling Down', bridges the two releases.

The album's second song, 'Crash And Burn', is where the story starts to unfold.

"The lyrics set the scene in 'Falling Down' and now we cut away in cinematic terms to a very dramatic sequence of the story," explained bassist/guitarist Graeme Murray. "Once again the human race is in dire straits. The Koreans are at war, the Middle Eastern Muslim states have banded together to form the United Islamic alliance, the planet is beset with ecological problems, and the world banking system has all but collapsed. Business as usual!"

XXV represents a mature band with consistently impressive writing skills, and top-notch musicianship to match. "I am immensely proud of XXV and feel that we have produced one of the finest and most cohesive Pallas albums ever," Murray said. European critics have agreed, stating that XXV is a contender for prog album of the year.

Though XXV is a sequel to the hugely successful debut, let there be no mistake: Pallas has remained active over the last quarter-century, writing, recording, and releasing a number of albums. The Scottish band did, however, replace its longtime vocalist Alan Reed with Paul Mackie just before the recording of XXV. Though it was a risky decision, fans will certainly have no worries once they hear Mackie's powerful performance on XXV.

"I think people were very apprehensive about Paul after the press announcement that we had parted with Alan, but once people heard the album most of them have very positive about Paul's voice and his charisma and presence on stage," Murray said. "The band is certainly a happier place these days, and we feel we have made the transition to a new lead voice successfully."

Music theories Recordings is a subsidiary of Mascot Records, an independent record company based in The Netherlands that specializes in guitar music, from metal to instrumental guitar, hard rock, prog rock and (guitar) fusion.

Go to this location to check out XXV track-by-track.