New John Sykes/Mike Portnoy Supergroup in the fold

[Rock Candy]

From Blabbermouth.net:

Drummer Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ADRENALINE MOB) has joined forces with guitarist/vocalist John Sykes (WHITESNAKE, BLUE MURDER, THIN LIZZY) and an as-yet-undisclosed bassist in a brand new power trio. The project is currently recording material at a Los Angeles studio, with Portnoy describing one song as "copping the [LED] ZEPPELIN/[BLACK] SABBATH vibe" and another as "[PINK] FLOYD meets [DEEP] PURPLE!!! Some serious old-school classic rock."

Portnoy and Sykes appeared earlier today (Monday, July 25) at a taping of season eight of VH1 Classic's "That Metal Show" (see photos below). The program's co-host Eddie Trunk tweeted about their new collaboration, "I heard demos. Sounds like killer BLUE MURDER meets '1987' WHITESNAKE. Amazing!" He also said that the new group will perform some BLUE MURDER material when it hits the road.

As previously reported, Portnoy is also playing in a new band called ADRENALINE MOB alongside SYMPHONY X frontman Russell Allen, guitar virtuoso Mike Orlando (SONIC STOMP), bassist Paul DiLeo and STUCK MOJO/FOZZY axeman Rich Ward. The group made its live debut on June 24 at the Hiro Ballroom in New York City and is presently seeking a suitable record label to release its already completed debut album.

Sykes announced his departure from THIN LIZZY in July 2009, explaining that "I feel it's time to get back to playing my own music."

Anyone else REALLY looking forward to this? Portnoy's new band with Steve Morse should be rad, too!

 

[Lynch]

oooooooooooooh!

 

[Rock Candy]

oooooooooooooh!

My thoughts exactly!

It'll be interesting to see who fills in the bass position. I'm thinking it'll be something of a "80s journeyman" type, ala Tony Franklin or Rudy Sarzo, but ClassicRock Magazine says that it's rumoured to be Billy Sheehan. If that's true, this'll really be something special.

 

[Mr. T]

This is REALLY

 

[LG]

Count me in, also a huge Russell Allen fan so I might have to get that album when it's out as well.

Nice to see Portnoy is having no trouble keeping busy.

 

[Prime]

This is going to be something i'll be looking forward to. Always a fan of Portnoy.

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

Nice to see Portnoy is having no trouble keeping busy.

He never does. My thought when I saw this thread was "Really Mike, another band?". I guess now that he's not tied up by the strict Dream Theater schedule he has more time on his hands but I think he's jumping in and out of at least half a dozen bands at this point.

 

[METALPRIEST]

THIS looks good

 

[Rock Candy]

From melodicrock.com this morning:

"John Sykes fans are going to have to wait even longer for any sign of new music as I can confirm today that the guitarist has pulled out of the much hyped John Sykes/Mike Portnoy project. There is no official reason or statement at this point, but it is understood that a new guitarist will step into the picture, the band also featuring a very well-known and popular big bassist."

Bummer, I was really looking forward to some new stuff from Sykes. Curious about the "very well-known and popular big bassist" though; explicit Billy Sheehan reference, maybe?

Edit: Yep, Billy Sheehan's been confirmed. A Sykes/Portnoy/Sheehan band was a scarily cool prospect ;_;

 

[Rock Candy]

From Blabbermouth:

According to Melodic Rock, Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ADRENALINE MOB) and Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG) have tapped Richie Kotzen (MR. BIG, POISON) to be the guitarist/vocalist of their new project following the recent departure of John Sykes (WHITESNAKE, BLUE MURDER, THIN LIZZY).

Although Portnoy and Sykes demoed a dozen or so songs at a Los Angeles studio last year, their vastly different work ethics and conflicting schedules were solely to blame for the dissolution of their collaboration. Portnoy explained on Twitter, "Sad but true... I tried my best to make it work... Me and [Billy Sheehan] couldn't wait around any longer... [Billy] and I are moving on and have already begun work with another guitarist/vocalist, keeping the original 'power trio' concept."

Portnoy and Sheehan were joined by guitarist Tony Macalpine and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (DREAM THEATER, PLANET X, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION) for an appearance at the SABIAN Live event on Friday, January 20 at the Sheraton Park Hotel (next to the Hilton) in Anaheim, California as part of the the 2012 NAMM (National Association Of Music Merchants) show. Portnoy, Sheehan, Macalpine and Sherinian also performed together on January 14 at the twenty-third annual Guitar Center's Drum-Off, the nationwide search for the next great undiscovered drummer, at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California.

Portnoy, who co-founded DREAM THEATER more than 20 years ago, abruptly quit the band in September 2010 while on tour with AVENGED SEVENFOLD. He has since been replaced by Mike Mangini (ANNIHILATOR, EXTREME, JAMES LABRIE, STEVE VAI).

Portnoy played on AVENGED SEVENFOLD's latest album, "Nightmare", following the death of that band's drummer, Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, and toured with them for the entire second half of 2010.