ADRENALINE MOB Makes Its Live Debut In New York City; First Review Posted Online

Elliot Levin of the NY Hard Rock Music Examiner has posted a review of the first-ever performance by ADRENALINE MOB the new band featuring former DREAM THEATER/AVENGED SEVENFOLD drummer Mike Portnoy, SYMPHONY X frontman Russell Allen, guitar virtuoso Mike Orlando (SONIC STOMP),bassist Paul DiLeo and STUCK MOJO/FOZZY axeman Rich Ward which took place last night (Friday, June 24) at The Hiro Ballroom in New York City.

Levin wrote, "It's hard to judge ADRENALINE MOB based on last night's show alone. Without a doubt, the musicians are all spectacular, both in their own right as well as a cohesive unit. Russell Allen proved he can do much more than power metal, and Mike Orlando's guitar work was truly ferocious. Mike Portnoy needs to prove nothing at this point in his career, and while in fact his drumming was noticeably less 'proggy' than DREAM THEATER fans might have expected, even playing more basic straight-up hard rock the drummer still laid down a crushing, heavy impact base for the rest of the band to go to town on. The music, both original and covers, all gelled in the way that speaks to the immense talent in the supergroup.

"But like other supergroups, the music itself might not equal the sum of its parts. It's not fair to judge a song off a single listen, and the riffs, beats, and vocals were all quality, but with the possible exception of a song called 'Indifferent', nothing really jumped out as a kick-you-in-the-head instant favorite. The songs are radio-friendly, easy metal listening, but that's not necessarily what most metal fans want to hear, and this [writer] suspects that by merging such diverse raw talent, the finished results may lack any room for those raw talents to do what they do best on their own.

"The band took an interesting chance by insisting on debuting their music live, ensuring that all the power and energy were delivered as loudly and in-your-face as possible, but the flip side is that no one could replay a song or take their time to let it grow on them. The band puts on a fantastic live show, but only time, and the official release of music, will tell if their songwriting meets the high level of expectation that fans have been developing."

Read Elliot Levin's entire review at this location.

In a March 2011 interview, Russell described ADRENALINE MOB as "a straight-up rock band with just rock songs kind of like an edgy, modern kind of sound. It's not progressive or trying to be too metal or anything it's just good, old crunchy rock stuff." He added, "I think it will be really well received by people who like to hear that kind of stuff. This is a new thing for Portnoy and myself, too. I've always done kind of done stuff with AYREON, but that's more of a vintage-y vibe, but nothing like this, which is kind of modern-sounding, almost like ROB ZOMBIE meets BLACK LABEL SOCIETY meets DISTURBED, [but] with [Ronnie James] Dio singing. It's all this kind of craziness. So it's definitely different and it's cool."

Speaking to MetalSymphony.com, Orlando stated about ADRENALINE MOB, "This band is not in the vein of SYMPHONY X or DREAM THEATER. It's more along the lines of, say, ROB ZOMBIE, GODSMACK, DISTURBED, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, SHINEDOWN with Russell's absolute pipes from hell and Mike just outright killing it on the kit. The guitar is really rocking and has some pretty insane moments, but it's a song-oriented band and that's the most important aspect before anything." He continued, "Russell and I have an amazing writing chemistry together and he is one of my closest and dearest friends. It's an absolute pleasure to work with such a great talent as Russell on every level.' He added, "Mike is just unbelievable. His playing is beyond words at times. He's the utmost professional musician but also one of the nicest and coolest guys I have ever met and played with. It's an honor to call him my bandmate, to say the least, and I look forward to ripping it up every night out there with Mike and Russ and the guys!"

Photo credit: Joe LaRusso