The Progressive Souls Collective

Welcome to The Progressive Souls Collective (TPSC):
Not a band, but a very exciting adventure dedicated to the love of heavy progressive music!
With the upcoming debut album "Sonic Birth" to be released via Metalville Records (Rough Trade distribution) featuring session musicians who were involved in bands like Dream Theater, Black Country Communion, Angra, Haken, O.S.I. and many more, this is a new kind of creative venture in the progressive music genre.

​

CREATION OF THE DEBUT ALBUM "Sonic Birth"
How do you approach an album if you initially think that this could be your one and only shot at heavy progressive music? Well, you go for it and try to get the expertise of the finest players in the scene. Written entirely by guitarist Florian Zepf, TPSC’s debut album, Sonic Birth, is an album of thrilling and highly dynamic progressive metal.
To bring his creation to life Florian sought out the very best musicians in the progressive metal genre and they were all
immediately captured by the spell of TPSC:

Drummer Aquiles Priester (ex-Angra, Tony MacAlpine, W.A.S.P., fill-in touring drummer for DragonForce on their 2020 tour) was contacted first. Actually, Aquiles was driving to a tour rehearsal with W.A.S.P. in Los Angeles during the first phone conversation with Florian. After listening to the first song demos, Aquiles immediately said: “Count me in!”. Keyboard extraordinaire and virtuoso player Derek Sherinian (Sons of Apollo, ex-Dream Theater, Planet X, Black Country Communion, Billy Idol etc) was contacted next and agreed to be a special guest on this album, and later Florian found himself jamming with Derek in his Beachwood Manor Studios in Burbank, and of course many files were sent back and forth online in order to finish the album. Percussionist wizard and music legend Luis Conte (Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Julian Lennon, Madonna, and many more) was also contacted for providing his magic on a few select tracks (you will definitely hear when Luis is doing his thing!).

Next, Conner Green (Haken, live bass placer in Mike Portnoy’s Shattered Fortress) added his wonderful bass talents during his downtime from touring commitments. And, as a very special feature on this album, Kevin Moore (O.S.I., Chroma Key, ex-Dream Theater), who is an absolute extraordinaire in the sound design and loop programming world, provided samples and loops on some of the songs. In fact, the TPSC debut album is the only record currently around to feature two ex-Dream Theater keyboard players together on the same the songs (with Derek Sherinian playing keyboards, and Kevin Moore being responsible for loop programming).

Finally, how to proceed in the vocal department? When writing progressive music with that kind of complexity and finesse, you know that you need a vocalist with a huge range, destinctive style, and, above all, a person that can get the right emotions across. Vladimir Lalic, a trained opera singer and frontman of the Serbian progressive band Organized Chaos was contacted by Florian, and, once you listen to the music, you will hear and understand why Vladimir was selected for this exciting collective. In fact, when Florian listened Vladimir’s cover version of Steve Vai’s song “Touching tongues” on Youtube he was more than impressed by Vladimir’s outstanding vocal abilities. And so, the rest is history….

In a nutshell, each of these legends and upcoming talents in the field of progressive music was invited to contribute their superlative skills on this album because they are master progressive musicians in the purest sense - they all have a progressive soul.

Musically, the debut album Sonic Birth blends the power and strength of progressive metal, with the inquisitive, playful nature of progressive rock to create endlessly fascinating songs. As the album progresses the listener is taken on an utterly enthralling musical journey, becoming completely immersed in the Sonic Birth experience. You can feel the exuberance in the performances, the joy as the musicians explore the world that Florian has framed within his writings and compositions. Conceptually, this album explores a society where technology has infiltrated every aspect of human existence – our society. Science constantly pushes at the boundaries of what can be done and what should be done. It has become an inextricable force within our belief systems, our perceptions, even our emotions. Do we find happiness through science and technology? Or do the two things stand in opposed camps? Sonic Birth takes a pioneering lyrical approach, using the language of various disciplines such as chemistry, medicine, mathematics, physics, biology, law and finance to examine our complex relationship with technology, and to express the importance of our relationships with each other, of love and intimacy in a world of science.

Having reached out to the finest musicians to bring TPSC to life Florian also wanted the best when it came to mixing and mastering, employing the exceptional skills of Adair Daufembach (Tony MacAlpine, Dirk Verbeuren [Megadeth, ex-Soilwork, ex-Devin Townsend Project etc.]) were used to apply the final polish.

More than just an assembly of great musicians, more than a single, wonderful album, TPSC represents a fresh approach to progressive metal with a bright future. This is the birth, the Sonic Birth, of a new exciting adventure in progressive music.