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"Yesterday was Adrenaline Mob's first real rehearsal, and we sounded amazing," says Mike Portnoy. "We recorded our album earlier this year, but we never stood in a circle before and fired up. It was electric. I couldn't believe what was happening before me. I think people are going to get pretty excited once they see us."

That will happen this Friday (24 June), in fact, at The Hiro Ballroom in New York City, when Portnoy and his new outfit - frontman Russell Allen (Symphony X), guitar virtuoso Mike Orlando (Sonic Stomp), bassist Paul DiLeo and guitarist Rich Ward (Mojo/Fozzy) - make their live debut, playing a heaping portion of their upcoming CD with, according to Portnoy, "a couple of covers. Originally, we were going to do more covers, but our own songs sound so good, I think most of the set is going to be Adrenaline Mob." (Check out a sampler of the band's music on their Facebook page right here.)

Former earlier this year, while Portnoy busied himself with a slew of projects involving Neal Morse and Steve Morse, among others, as well as playing in his beloved Beatles tribute band Yellow Matter Custard, Adrenaline Mob "didn't require overthinking," says the drum legend. "It wasn't a master plan to join this band, but once I heard the material, I was in."

Since leaving Dream Theater and Avenged Sevenfold, you've been involved in so many projects. How did Adrenaline Mob come about?

"I've known Russell Allen for over a decade now, and I've always thought he was a very underrated singer. He has one of the best voices in the business I've ever heard. I'd call him something of a modern-day Dio – he's that phenomenal. As much as Symphony X has a good following in the underground cult prog world, I always thought that Russell was more undiscovered than he should be.

"I took Symphony X out on tour with Dream Theater in 2007 in Europe, and I remember watching them from the side of the stage every night. I was simply in awe of Russell. His voice and his stage presence totally floored me. And not to put words in his mouth, but he's said that he would watch Dream Theater and study what I was doing. He always liked that I was a rock drummer in a prog band – not to dismiss my prog influences – and he always thought I was more of a harder-edged, metal kind of drummer.

"The two of us have always talked about doing something together, and as soon as I found myself an independent artist once again, it was obvious that the time was right. Quite coincidentally, Russell and Mike Orlando had been working on this material for the past year and were looking to put a band together. The minute Russell found out I might be available, he called me and asked if I'd consider the situation. I popped in the music they sent me, and that was it – I was in. The tunes were that strong."

When did you cut your drum tracks?

"In March. At that point, we also found Paul DiLeo on bass. I cut the drums in Mike Orlando's place in New York. The whole thing took about a week, which is basically the time frame I need to do all the albums I do. When things are really clicking, I don't need any more than seven to 10 days."

Were you involved in writing the lyrics? Some of the words sound like they might stem from your recent experiences.

"No, I wasn't. I know how you might assume that, though. Some of the lyrics have a 'looking-back, looking-ahead' kind of quality. I think the words are things that everyone can relate to. But I didn't have any influence on the lyrics in this case, no."

Mike Orlando is a very impressive player. I've heard of him before, but he really dazzles on these cuts.

"He's remarkable, isn't he? Truly New York's best-kept-secret, in my opinion, but not for long. He's like a three-pronged monster. He's got riffs for days – he reminds me of a Dimebag in the kinds of riffs he comes up with. That's one side of him; the other side is that he's a complete shredder. He can play solos right up there with the biggest guitar heroes out there. And the third side is, he's a wonderful engineer. He's got his own studio, and he knows how to get the most awesome sounds. Talk about a multi-talented guy. I think this album will break him out of his anonymity."

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