Riot V – Unleash the Fire

Steamhammer/SPV (Oct 2014)

Reviewer: Peter Scallan

Riot V is the latest incarnation of the band originally called just simply Riot. The original band were, for me anyway, a real melodic heavy rock band with superb vocals from Guy Speranza and great songs too. I bought the first three albums on vinyl but went off them a little when Speranza quit and was replaced by Rhett Forrester. The band have continued on and off over the decades but this incarnation doesn’t feature any original members after the death of founding guitarist Mark Reale. The fare on offer is more metal than rock so let’s have a listen.

Opening number ‘Ride Hard Live Free’ sets the tone in terms of the melodic metal that is on offer. It is fast-paced double-bass drum driven rocker which sounds like a cross between Iron Maiden and Judas Preist, but leaning more towards Maiden. Latest vocalist Todd Michael Hall does a great job too with a powerful yet melodic voice and good range too. ‘Metal Warrior’ sounds like an outtake from the first two Maiden albums and keeps up the pacey rocking and is very well executed. The next song ‘Fall From the Sky’ changes the style a little dropping the Maidenesque harmony guitar opening. Sounding more eighties melodic metal a la Priest especially at the chorus at least the band have varied the approach. ‘Immortal’ continues the journey into more Priest-like metal and is very reminiscent of late 80s Priest with snippets of Saxon. The Judas Priest comparisons continue with the rapid fire riffing and vocal stylings of Hall of ‘Unleash the Fire’. Despite the comparisons, it is again really well played and has a great chorus too. The harmony guitar intro returns for ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ and the pace drops a little and the song is peppered with harmony guitars and double-bass drums injecting energy at the bridges.

‘Kill to Survive’ is the first song that sounds more original and with its start/stop beat and moving into a more thrash metal riff before the melodic chorus kicks in. Well-structured, it presents something a little different from that which has preceded it. ‘Return of the Outlaw’ continues to introduce something a little different and opens with some excellent picked guitar and then kicks into a mid-paced staccato riff for the verse and then picks up the pace for the chorus. Certainly the best song by far and it hints at their melodic rock roots as opposed to metal. Although the harmony guitar intro returns for ‘Immortal’ it is more melodic than previous intros. It is a slow-paced power ballad of sorts with more clean (ish) picked guitar playing and again introduces something a little different especially with the guitar solo. ‘Take Me Back’ continues the more melodic metal approach with a bouncing beat slightly reminiscent of Thin Lizzy as are the use of the harmony guitars. It also has a strong chorus melody. The harmony guitars open ‘Fight Fight Fight’ signalling a return to the style of the earlier songs on the album being more metal than melodic and a truly awful chorus. Thankfully we return to the more melodic approach with ‘Until We Meet Again’, which I am assuming is a tribute to Mark Reale. Opening with chanting vocal and guitar break which is very Gary More it turns into an acoustic driven power ballad and is one of the best songs on the album. A very pleasant surprise indeed especially as this is actually a bonus track along with a live version of ‘Thundersteel’ which closes this bonus pack version of the album.

These guys clearly know what they are doing in terms of the quality of playing and vocals which are second to none. However, the album quite literally is a ‘game of two halves’ with the front end being metal by numbers with the Maiden and Priest ‘influences’ coming too much to the fore. However, in the second half of the album we get some really good stuff (apart from the awful Fight Fight Fight). Granted, this line up is newly formed and I would hazard a guess they are finding their own style. On that basis I look forward to the next album and hope that is more reflective of the second half of this album!