BILLY VASS – “Alexander The Great”  review (via Angels PR Music Promotion) #billyvass
Review submitted by Marian Nicolaou for Angels PR Music Promotion

BILLY VASS – “Alexander The Great” was released on March 23, 2020 via  Spider Music
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Alexander the Great or Alexander III of Macedon was the king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. Born in the Greek city of Pella in 356 BC he was a member of the Argead dynasty. He was a student of Aristotle. He was only 20 years old when he succeeded to the throne his father Philip II. By the age of 30 he had already conquered the biggest part of the then known world including the Arab World (Northern Africa and Middle East) and had reached up to the western Asia till India.

His story became a legend and inspired many bands including Iron Maiden who wrote their “Alexander the Great” song in 1986 and put it in their now classic “Somewhere in Time” LP.

“Alexander the Great” is the title of Billy Vass new single. But please don’t be misled by the title, because this is not an Iron Maiden cover.

The song is a co-operation of the composer Kostas Gontikakis, the vocalist Billy Vass, known from his progressive metal band Terra Incognita and the lyricist Kostas Katsanevas.

Kostas Gontikakis apart from an excellent composer is also a great player of the Cretan lyra, a rather weird three-stringed bowed musical instrument based in the Byzantine musical tradition. In “Alexander the Great” he wrote a piece that could be a film score to an epic movie.

After covering the George Dalaras song “Stranger” with his band Terra Incognita (in fact he turned it to a progressive metal tune) and proving his voice in at an excellent shape, Billy Vass here lets his epic soul out. His vocals are imposing. They have the power of Manowar and the brightness of an opera tenor.

The lyrics of Kostas Katsanevas perfectly fit the whole song and allow the myth and the legend to be told.

The production is brilliant and we are really excited to see what’s coming up next for both Billy Vass and Kostas Gontikakis. We sure hope their co-operation will continue to a full length album.