Taliesin's songs are mature glimpses at life through the lens of a poetic mind: ruggedly truthful stories that shine light on the artist's personal journey with a powerful voice that is uniquely his own. Hip-hop heads will love the gritty lyricism Taliesin displays on "The Rebirth of Leonidas," matching raw emotion to fluid gemstones of poetry, and music fans who appreciate the punch of live instruments will dig the immense rock-edge each song delivers in a whirlwind of sound. But don't try to fit the MC/songwriter into any one musical category or genre. Taliesin shows some serious soul on songs like "That Same Old Dude you fell in love with (long ago)," and even tries his hand at doo-wop on one of the album's lighter songs "Remember When...?" Taliesin has always felt an artistic kinship with the Spartan king Leonidas because of his courage (see the movie "300") and chose "The Rebirth of Leonidas" as his album's title because, as he says, during the two years' process of creating songs for the album, he felt at times "like one man going up against impossible odds" (due to the challenges and events in his life). His music is as personal as it gets, echoing the cold realism of a Johnny Cash, or the authentic truth of Lennon's solo work...every song a window into his own experiences, which will have the listener nodding in approval or relating in some way to a part of his story.