Drummer Mike Mangini, who exited Dream Theater upon the return of that band’s original drummer Mike Portnoy in 2023, has launched a new band called Monolith. The first piece of music from the three-piece is the single/video “Oligarchs,” which can be streamed below.
Mangini has kept busy since parting ways with Dream Theater, first releasing a solo album, Invisible Signs, in November 2023. Now, he’s introducing his new band, featuring singer-bassist Hernán “Motley” Rodríguez and guitarist Andy Barrow.
Thus far, Monolith have only announced themselves with a few social media posts, describing the trio as “a genre-defying band that embodies the fusion of rock and metal.”
“Oligarchs” is indeed a marriage of rock and metal, with Rodríguez delivering muscular vocals on top of some virtuoso playing by both Barrow and Mangini. The song is accompanied by a slick music video, intertwining politically-themed narrative scenes with performance clips.
Following his exit from Dream Theater after more than a decade in the veteran prog-metal act, Mangini said he understood why the band wanted to reunite with Portnoy. “All I know is the decision was made and when I heard it, all I pictured was, ‘Oh, this is an original guy going back to his band. Uh, okay. All right. Let’s go to the next thing,’” he told SiriusXM host Eddie Trunk at the time.
Watch Monolith’s video for their debut single “Oligarchs” below, and stay tuned as more details on the band are revealed in the coming weeks and months.
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