''Blood of the Snake'' is the fifth solo album by keyboard player

Derek Sherinian Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X and ...

. It has contributions from Billy Idol, Zakk Wylde,

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

guitarist

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

, John Petrucci of

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

, in addition to previous collaborators Simon Phillips,

Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...

, Tony Franklin,

Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stea ...

and

Brian Tichy Brian Tichy (born August 18, 1968) is an American musician, best known as having been the drummer for Whitesnake, Billy Idol, Foreigner (band), Foreigner, Sass Jordan, and Ozzy Osbourne. He was the drummer of Whitesnake from 2010 to 2013. His s ...

. A video for a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of Mungo Jerry's " In the Summertime", with Sherinian, Idol, Slash, Franklin and Tichy, was released in conjunction with the album. In a reference to Idol, the bass drum is painted with the script "Derek Sherinian and The Rebellious Yellers!". Sherinian also worked with

duduk The duduk ( ; hy, դուդուկ ) or tsiranapogh ( hy, ծիրանափող, meaning “apricot-made wind instrument”), is an ancient Armenian double reed woodwind instrument made of apricot wood. It is indigenous to Armenia. Variations of th ...

master

Djivan Gasparyan Djivan Gasparyan (var. Jivan Gasparyan; hy, Ջիվան Գասպարյան, ; October 12, 1928 – July 6, 2021) was an Armenian musician and composer. He played the duduk, a double reed woodwind instrument related to the orchestral oboe. Gaspary ...

on the song "Prelude to Battle" on the release, written for his great-grandmother, who had survived the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

Track listing

# Czar of Steel – 6:01 (Sherinian/Phillips) # Man with No Name – 6:55 (Sherinian/Tichy/Wylde) # Phantom Shuffle – 4:21 (Sherinian/Phillips) # Been Here Before – 4:30 (Sherinian) # Blood of the Snake – 6:09 (Sherinian/Tichy) # On the Moon – 4:34 (Sherinian/Phillips) # The Monsoon – 6:08 (Sherinian/Tichy) # Prelude to Battle – 2:55 (Sherinian/Tichy) # Viking Massacre – 4:58 (Sherinian/Tichy) # In the Summertime – 3:51* (

Ray Dorset Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (g ...

) * Note: The official time printed in the CD liner notes is 3:51, but the track actually extends to 6:32, and includes a little hidden audio clip of Sherinian and his friends supposedly celebrating the new album release.

Personnel

- all keyboards * Billy Idol - vocals on track 10 * John Petrucci - guitar on track 1 * Zakk Wylde - guitar on tracks 2, 5, 7; vocals on track 2 * Brad Gillis - guitar on tracks 4, 6 *

- guitar on tracks 5, 7, 8, 9 *

- guitar on track 10 * Tony Franklin - fretless bass guitar on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8; bass guitar on track 10 * Jimmy Johnson - bass guitar on track 3 *

John "JD" DeServio John "JD" DeServio is an American musician who has been the bassist of heavy metal band Black Label Society since 2005. He was also a member of Pride & Glory, a southern rock trio, for a short time in December 1994 (again as a replacement fo ...

- bass guitar on track 7 * Simon Phillips - drums on tracks 1, 3, 4, 6 *

- drums on tracks 2, 5, 7, 9, 10; bass guitar on track 9 * Jerry Goodman - violin on tracks 2, 4 * Brandon Fields - alto saxophone on tracks 1, 3, 6 *

Jivan Gasparyan Djivan Gasparyan (var. Jivan Gasparyan; hy, Ջիվան Գասպարյան, ; October 12, 1928 – July 6, 2021) was an Armenian musician and composer. He played the duduk, a double reed woodwind instrument related to the orchestral oboe. Gaspa ...

- duduk on track 8 *Dimitris Mahlis - oud on tracks 7, 8 *Mike Shapiro - percussion on track 8 {{Authority control Derek Sherinian albums 2006 albums Albums produced by Simon Phillips (drummer) Inside Out Music albums