Album Review: Riot – Immortal Soul [9.5 out of 10]

By Avinash Mittur

Twenty three years after the monumental musical statement that was “Thundersteel”, the same lineup returns bolstered with guitarist Mike Flyntz, who has tackled lead duties with Reale since 1989. “Immortal Soul,” the result of this reunion, is a raging beast of a comeback album, and ranks as one of the band’s greatest achievements.

A little bit of backstory- after Riot’s disintegration in 1983, Mark Reale, the heart and soul of the band, spent five years attempting to assemble a band to play his new songs. By March of 1988, he and the new lineup, which included bassist Don Van Stavern, drummer Bobby Jarzombek, and vocalist Tony Moore in its ranks, released “Thundersteel.” This was a landmark album, boasting a monster double bass assault from Jarzombek, soaring vocals from Moore and ludicrously fast solos and riffs from Reale. This sound would later be dubbed “power metal” and “Thundersteel” rarely receives the credit it deserves for pioneering the genre. Its follow-up, 1990’s “The Privilege of Power,” was an admirable effort, but suffered from its attempts to make a socio-political statement. Despite the subsequent departures of Moore, Van Stavern and Jarzombek, Riot continued with new lineups and cranked out records all the way up to 2006’s “Army of One.” In 2008, Reale announced a reunion of the “Thundersteel” lineup, and after three years of occasional shows and various hitches in the recording process, “Immortal Soul” is finally here.

The first track, “Riot,” blows the door open with the most aggression the band has ever recorded. After a triumphant intro lick, Reale unleashes a signature light-speed riff, with the band joining in a manner reminiscent of “Thundersteel’s” title track. The song has “live classic” written all over it- the awesome call and response chorus of “what’s it gonna take, to make you riot?” practically begs for the audience to shout along. “Riot” is also a showcase for Moore, who shows that his twenty year break has done nothing to harm his voice. The following track, “Still Your Man,” is a sequel to “Johnny’s Back,” the song that announced Riot’s 1988 comeback. It’s a nice treat for longtime fans; it references its prequel both lyrically and musically, and can be seen as Riot’s way of saying “we’re back” once more.

“Wings Are For Angels” is easily my favorite song from the album. The band is on fire here, with every member delivering powerhouse performances. Jarzombek puts his years of experience across the metal spectrum to work with a mind-melting intro and fills that are as progressive as 4/4 time can get. Reale and Flyntz, not to be outdone, let loose a fantastic dual solo and keep the lightning riffs flowing. Van Stavern, although virtually inaudible on cheap earbuds that most will listen to this album with, maintains a solid bottom end, while occasionally throwing in cool fills here and there. Lastly, Tony Moore gives a nearly perfect performance that shows off his range while still holding back on the histrionics he is capable of. This is a beast of a track, one that should go down among Riot’s best.

Like Anthrax’s Joey Belladonna, Tony Moore’s voice has matured to a lower natural register after the years off. His high range is still perfectly intact though, the title track and “Wings Are For Angels” being the immediate proof. Moore uses this lower register to great use throughout the album and his vocals are far more accessible and less over the top than his prior performances. His return might be the high point of this reunion, and I hope he’s in this for the long haul. With all due respect to the band’s prior vocalists (all of whom sang on at least some great, if not classic tracks) Moore is the most talented singer to wield the mic for Riot, and hearing him sing better than ever paints a bright future for the band.

Despite setting a straight power-thrash tone with the first track, the band goes for a more conventional heavy metal sound for most of the album. While this may seem like a detriment, this quality ends up helping “Immortal Soul” maintain the listener’s attention far better than the other two albums recorded by this lineup. It represents a far greater musical range that Riot is capable of than “Thundersteel” and “The Privilege of Power” did. Songs like the title track, “Fall Before Me” and especially “Whiskey Man” see the hard rock and early heavy metal sound of Riot’s first few albums updated for 2011, with mostly great results. Bobby Jarzombek’s aggressive drumming is the main force behind this new sound; while he doesn’t repeat the balls to the wall craziness of his performance on “Thundersteel,” his playing is more varied and technical, resulting in some of his best, most diverse drumming yet.

When it comes to the remaining tracks, “Insanity” is an effective combination of the two sounds Riot is known for, and boasts a chorus that could have been on a classic Scorpions track. The others are all at the very least solid, with only “Majestica” coming off as filler. The closest thing “Immortal Soul” has to a dud is “Crawling” mainly due to its weak and plodding verse, and even that song has a pretty okay chorus.

The album’s production is a step above most metal albums released nowadays. It actually has a really solid bottom end mainly provided by the rhythm guitars and bass, and the album truly roars on a nice stereo system, although yet another overly cranked mastering job keeps it from being perfect. A minor issue is that the songs begin to blend together from “Insanity” onwards, an issue that could have been fixed by placing one of the faster tracks near the end of the album. Lastly, I would like to commend the band for keeping the length of the album at about fifty minutes. There are far too many albums packed to the full eighty minute running time that are full of filler and same-sounding tracks.

Simply put, “Immortal Soul” is Riot returning with a vengeance. Their power metal sound, nearly unprecedented in 1988, has been updated for a wider audience than Riot has ever appealed to. For the first time, Riot has made an album that encapsulates and modernizes the sounds they pioneered over the past thirty-plus years; “Immortal Soul” is a testament to the recognition and accolades Riot so justly deserve. Let’s hope the metal community finally catches on this time around.

Rating: 9.5/10

US Release Date: November 22nd 2011
Label: SPV

Track Listing:
01. Riot
02. Still Your Man
03. Crawling
04. Wings Are For Angels
05. Fall Before Me
06. Sins Of The Father
07. Majestica
08. Immortal Soul
09. Insanity
10. Whiskey Man
11. Believe
12. Echoes

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