S. A. Adams feat. Mike Portnoy: Unearthed

In the summer of 1985, Long Beach, NY local guitar hero S.A. Adams decided to make a stylistic change. Leaving a band who's music was directly influenced by early Judas Priest & Dianno-era Iron Maiden, Adams forayed into a punk-influenced metal hybrid-Part GBH & The Stooges, Part Motorhead, Raven & Venom. Financed by vocalist/lyricist Bob Muldowney of Kick-Ass Monthly magazine (the mysterious fan who pushed Metallica's demo onto Megaforce's John Zazula), their 9 song "DeSade was a Feminist" album generated so much underground shock, horror & attention that Combat Record's "Bootcamp" series offered the unit a 7 year / 7 album recording contract.

In tow on these summer recordings was Mike Portnoy, an up & coming neighborhood drummer. Seeing Portnoy's work first with Intruder & Rising Power, Adams felt that Mike's newfound fanaticism for underground metal would be a perfect fit for the sonic damage to be unleashed that summer. Upon hearing word from Muldowney they were receiving a contract in a few weeks, Adams contacted Portnoy and agreed to record a backlog of material to start fulfilling the contract's obligation.

From December 28th, 1985 to January 11th, 1986, the two banged out three album's worth of material with a slew of "one or two-take" recordings. However upon receiving the contracts from Muldowney, it was clear Combat intended to take over & own everything- from the recordings,the songs, publishing to even owning of the members names & images. "I remember Mike being pretty pissed at my refusal to sign this thing-however with hindsight being 20/20 it turned out to be the best decision for everyone involved." One has to wonder if Combat Records would have even "allowed" Mike to record the legendary Majesty 1986 demo if they had their legal claws sunk into the 18-year-old skinsman.

As Mike committed to his bandmates that he met at Berkely, Adams continued this Punk/Metal mayhem, first with a band called The Fury, releasing two legendary demos, the "A Dozen Thorns" 7" EP, and then their only album, "Sex." The band would tour relentlessly, opening for Metal Church, Manowar (twice) and Overkill, amonst others as well. After The Fury imploded after a small 1993 tour, to fulfill a contract option his label didn't want to let go of. a solo album, Exiled On Green St. was released in October of 1993.

Exiled did so well, he landed a contract with Rock the Nations who released his next album Redemption in 1995, and then the Pure Power compilation of that same year. (An unsanctioned & unofficial "Soundcheck Tapes" was also released from the RTN label.) As the Rock the Nations label burned bridges with magazines & promoters (and almost ruined Adams' career), NIR records offered a 1 album deal for Adam's offering, 1997's "Signs Of A Time." After a ton of tri-state area performances & a visit to Germany, Adams was briefly inked in 1998 with Bad Posture records who offered up the song "Reborn" on their "Metal Injection" CD. During his second trip to Germany in the summer of 1999, Adams got inked up for the next decade with Hardware records.

In 2001, "Stovepipe" was released to rave reviews. and earned Adams a Saturday slot on the prestigious "Bang Your Head" festival in 2002. Upon returning to America, Adams would enter the studio for 14 months, emerging in 2004 with "Mutated", an album that many fans consider the finest sounding album of his career. However distribution issues kept the band promoting just on the east coast, with a guitar giveaway at the 2005 "Bang Your Head" festival his only appearance in Europe.

In 2006, Adams began pre-production work on his next FOUR albums. As song writing wrapped up in 2007, inquiries and offers started coming in regarding his collection of unreleased songs he recorded with Mike Portnoy during that winter of 1985-1986. Switching gears from the new body of work, Adams worked incessantly getting the 20 year recording up to the sonic standards set at the end of the decade. Now in 2010, upstart label FnA/EMA Polydisc will not only finally get these recordings to the public, but offer up the 2001 Stovepipe CD & a-soon-to-be titled best of collection, originally recorded in 2008 for a shelved DVD project.

"I think we finally got a partner in FnA/EMA-people who share the vision and got the same hunger I do," says Adams with the same look of intensity that marked his early days with The Fury. "Now prepare for the new stuff, the good stuff, the stuff that's gonna rip you apart. Prepare for a pummelling, but this pain will make you feel REEEAAALLL good."

-- bio by FnA Records