The Progressive Souls Collective, or TPSC for short, return with a new album, Sonic Rebirth, due on 15th March from Metalville Records, and ahead of that is their latest single, ‘Talk To Me’.
On ‘Talk To Me’, the band are said to “explore new musical realms” and you can check that out for yourselves via the video here at RAMzine, and available digitally.
The song features guest drummer Adam Marko of Special Providence, with prominent support from Leprous bassist Simen Borven. The song also has unusual instrumentation with banjo, mandolin, resonator and pedal steel guitars reminiscent of a futuristic yet organic mixture of Porcupine Tree, Fates Warning and Devin Townsend.
It follows ‘Destroy Chemistry‘, that was released last month – One of the heaviest TPSC songs hat features complex guitar riffs with alternate and downstroke picking. Musically and lyrically, there are borrowings from the collective’s previous songs ‘A Formula For Happiness’ and ‘Hurt’ from the 2020 debut album Sonic Birth as part of a futuristic melange.
Available digitally, you can check out the video here at RAMzine, as you can the single before that, ‘I Am Here’, that’s also from the new eight part concept album. As on the first TPSC album, Sonic Birth, the first words sung by Vladimir Lalic are “I am here”. This is a direct thematic and musical continuation of the debut album. However, this time a harder and, above all, groovier style is used.
The album can once again be characterised as progressive metal with a range of elements of the entire progressive genre, this time with even more prog, more catchy melodies, but also more metal and heaviness.
Sonic Rebirth marks the logical continuation of its predecessor Sonic Birth, and can be understood as the second part of a musical, lyrical and overall sonic concept. With this record to already be the second concept album released by TPSC listeners can find elements they might recognize from the first album such as quotes, references, motifs and melodies besides a lot of new elements. Thematically, both Sonic Birth and Sonic Rebirth touch on the topic of human development and technology, visually characterised by the robot embryo as a major part of the artwork on both album covers.
Sonic Rebirth was mastered by Reuben Cohen from Lurssen Mastering who has won multiple Grammy Awards, and who is also known for his work with legends such as Metallica. Guitarist Florian Zepf once more was in charge of all compositions and the production.
Conceptionally Sonic Rebirth consists of a total of eight parts. The tracks blend into each other so that the listener can get immersed into futuristic soundscapes and has an uninterrupted and progressive listening experience. “Sonic Rebirth“ is an organic prog-metal album and the logical continuation of the debut with a new generation of top musicians from the prog genre. TPSC are back!
The new studio album will once again feature some impressive musicians such as Vladimir Lalic (lead vocals), Megan Burtt (Gingerbomb), Jamie Powell & Simen Daniel Lindstad Børven (Leprous) on bass, Gerald Peter (known for his solo project & his work with Dream Theater‘s Jordan Rudess on his Rockestra project and Cirque Du Soleil providing keyboard leads & piano, TPSC live drummer Tim Korycki (Tomorrow’s Eve) plus appearances by Adam Marko (drums) & Zsolt Kaltenecker (keyboards) from Special Providence, Luis Conte (Eric Clapton, Phil Collins) on percussions, Damiano Della Torre (Luciano Pavarotti, Terence Trent D’Arby, Tom Jones, Joe Cocker) on accordion, and many more.
Conceptionally, Sonic Rebirth consists of a total of eight parts, all compose by guitarist Florian Zepf. Tracks featured are: ‘Part I: About To Leave’, ‘Part II: I Am Here’, ‘Part III: Of My Senses’, ‘Part IV: Destroy Chemistry’, ‘Part V: Talk To Me’, ‘Part VI: Copies Don’t Exist’, ‘Part VII: The Core’ and ‘Part VIII: Goodbye To Love’.
The tracks blend into each other so that the listener can get immersed into futuristic soundscapes and has an uninterrupted and progressive listening experience. Sonic Rebirth is intended as an organic prog-metal album and the logical continuation of the debut with a new generation of top musicians from the prog genre.
TPSC debuted back in 2020 when guitarist Florian Zepf got together musicians who’d played in bands such as Dream Theater, Black Country Communion, Angra, Haken and O.S.I. for a creative venture in the progressive music genre, and released their debut album, Sonic Birth via Metalville Records.
Among those involved back then were Derek Sherinian, Kevin Moore, Aquiles Priester and Luis Conte. The collective recently released a cover of Garbage‘s ‘The Trick Is To Keep Breathing’, for which Zepf brought on board Gingerbomb vocalist Megan Burtt and Kamelot drummer Alex Landenburg. Still available digitally, you can also check out the video for ‘The Trick Is To Keep Breathing’ right here at RAMzine,
