Metal Blade Records
6 June 2025
Genre: Progressive/Melodic rock/Metal
Links: https://www.a-zband.com/
Line Up:
Ray Alder – Lead and Backing Vocals
Philip Bynoe – Bass Guitar
Nick Van Dyk – Guitars
Simone Mularoni – Lead Guitars
Jimmy Waldo – Keyboards
Mark Zonder – Drums
Tracklist:
1. Fire Away 4:37
2. Running in Place 4:58
3. Nothing is Over 4:18
4. A Wordless Prison 6:04
5. Reaching Out 4:16
6. The Remedy 5:06
7. I Am Numb 4:03
8. This Chaotic Symphony 5:10
9. Learning to Fly 4:38
10. Now I Walk Away 5:39
Bottom Line Up Front: A2Z2 delivers everything missing from modern rock—massive choruses, organic production, and genuine band chemistry that sounds like these veterans have been playing together for 15 years rather than assembling for a sophomore effort.
“Fire Away” sets the tone of the record right away—catchy, melodic and heavier than the debut. Ray Alder’s voice remains impeccable as usual, his range and sense of melody always on point, but here he’s deliberately pushing into rougher, harder territory than his usual clean vocal approach. “I sing much rougher than I normally would, a lot harder, tougher,” Alder explains, and this vocal transformation becomes the perfect metaphor for the entire album’s evolution.
This isn’t just another supergroup cash-grab. Drummer Mark Zonder (Fates Warning, Warlord) refuses to even use the P-word: “Project is the ugliest word in music today.” Instead, A2Z2 proves what happens when seasoned professionals—guitarist Nick Van Dyk (Redemption), Italian axeman Simone Mularoni (DGM), bassist Philip Bynoe (Steve Vai), and keyboard legend Jimmy Waldo (Alcatrazz)—genuinely commit to collective chemistry over individual showcasing.
“Running in Place” provides a perfect example, with its crunchy riff matching Alder’s high rising vocal lines while Mularoni’s killer guitar solos weave through Zonder’s thunderous, groove-driven drumwork. The interplay demonstrates what Zonder calls the album’s core difference: “On the previous record, if I got a seven out of ten on my idea, I’d be happy. This time, the guys would take my idea and make it a 15.”
Zonder’s vision remains crystal clear: music you could picture in “Cobra Kai, Johnny half drunk in his Trans-Am.” The addictive riff in “Nothing is Over”—the album’s lead single and H.P. Lovecraft-inspired opener—grabs listeners immediately because it has everything: hooks, chorus, superb rhythm section work, with Alder doing what he does best. “It’s all about the chorus, the hook,” Zonder insists, and this track delivers the complete package.
The song’s progression from brooding beginning to high-energy payoff recalls Van Dyk’s own Redemption work, which makes sense given their 25-year friendship and shared songwriting approach. When things fell apart with the original lineup, it was Van Dyk who suggested continuing as A-Z, giving Zonder “new life” and the album its emotional throughline.
Philip Bynoe’s bass work throughout proves truly outstanding, especially his foundational yet adventurous approach after Zonder told him to “go crazy” rather than stick to minimal roles. His cello contributions to “Chaotic Symphony” and fretless work on “Now I Walk Away” show how the band achieves progressive sophistication within accessible frameworks.
In an era of over-processed, bedroom-producer music, A2Z2 sounds refreshingly alive. The drums were recorded “basically analog—no triggers, no samples” in Zonder’s 6,000 square foot North Hollywood facility, using “amazing microphones, Neve console, Summit Audio, everything you’d see in a major LA studio.” The result feels organic in ways that validate Zonder’s philosophy: “The great bands sound better live than on record.”
Jimmy Waldo emerges as the album’s unsung hero, his Hammond organ work providing the Jon Lord/Ritchie Blackmore dynamic that makes this record heavier than the debut. “You pull that out of the mix and it’s a different ballgame,” Zonder explains, and tracks like “The Remedy”—a musical elixir of killer chorus, great groove, and huge hooks with strutting funk elements—prove his point.
Simone Mularoni’s dual role as lead guitarist and mixing engineer creates fascinating dynamics. Van Dyk called him “one of the greatest guitar players I’ve ever seen,” and his leads prove “overly melodic” in the best sense—“like Steve Lukather or Gary Moore where you know where he’s going because it makes musical sense.” His atmospheric layers and experimental pedal work on tracks like “I Am Numb”—an aggressive exploration of emotional detachment with Rainbow’s “Kill the King” energy—showcase technical prowess serving songcraft rather than dominating it.
While Zonder’s influences remain rooted in 70s and 80s classics—“This morning I was listening to Tina Turner, UFO, Triumph, Bad Company”—A2Z2 never sounds dated or retro. The progressive elements enhance rather than complicate the hooks, achieving what The Prog Report called “musical hints of Toto, GTR and even the more memorable commercial output from Yes in the 1980’s” while remaining thoroughly modern.
A true prog band would expand “Wordless Prison” or “Chaotic Symphony” into “15-minute epics with orchestras and running water,” but A-Z delivers those same complex ideas in five-minute packages that hit like “Carry On My Wayward Son”—multiple interconnected parts that work as unified hooks.
Guest contributions from Robbie Wyckoff (Roger Waters, Diana Ross touring vocalist) on harmonies and Linda Chase (Berklee professor) on backing vocals add professional polish without diluting the band’s core identity. These aren’t superstar cameos but strategic enhancements that serve the songs.
A2Z2 succeeds because it represents genuine artistic commitment rather than convenient collaboration. When Zonder told his 19-year-old twins “Now it’s time to go,” he meant it. This album delivers sophisticated musicianship that never sacrifices memorability, heavy moments that enhance rather than overwhelm the melodies, and production values that celebrate rather than disguise the human elements.
The Hugh Syme artwork—featuring alligators, zippers, zebras, and ants in characteristic detail—perfectly represents the band’s creative ambition. Like the music itself, it’s bold, detailed, and impossible to ignore.
“Nothing is Over” works as both album opener and artistic statement. Classic rock isn’t dead when musicians this committed to both accessibility and excellence keep creating music that sticks with you long after the final note fades. A2Z2 proves that sometimes the best supergroups are the ones that refuse to call themselves supergroups—they’re just bands, making the music they believe in, with the chemistry and staying power to back it up.
Written by: Shadow Editor
Ratings: 8/10
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