Riot City is a heavy metal band from Canada formed in 2011, releasing their debut album ‘Burn The Night’ in 2019. The band’s sophomore album ‘Electric Elite’ was released in 2022.
Bringing forth a resounding traditional metal vibe, Riot City present their new album crammed with a sound first heard when legendary bands Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were shaping the heavy metal genre during the early eighties. ‘Electric Elite’ is eight songs and forty-five minutes of foot-to-floor fast-paced heavy metal – exploding into life with the high velocity, highly traditional metaller ‘Eye Of The Jaguar’. Flying by at a great rate of knots, the band dip their toes into the speed metal genre, as ‘Eye Of The Jaguar’ sets a stunning pace, and an even more stunning start to the album. A start that simply gets better, with the upbeat and up tempo ‘Beyond The Stars’. Full of energetic vibes, ‘Beyond The Stars’ is “foot on the monitor” metal as it’s supposed to sound like, with echoes of ‘Maiden and ‘Priest heard in the song’s voluptuous vapour trail. Not wishing to be known just for electrifying speed, Riot City slow the pace for ‘Tyrant’ to a thunderous mid-tempo and highly anthemic foot stomp. The greats of anthemic metal such as Manowar, Powerwolf, and Sabaton will be looking, listening, and thinking “if only we’d written that”. What an absolutely barnstorming opening triple salvo.
Clocking in at over six minutes in length, ‘Ghost Of Reality’ is the longest song on offer – so far! And is a melodic monster – from the mellow and serene intro to the pulsating hymn-like build-up, ‘Ghost Of Reality’ finally comes cruising into life at the minute and a half mark. The sound of galloping heavy metal filled the air like billowing smoke from a blazing fire. Riot City maintaining the full-on and in-your-face metal style, started the album with. And with no break for a breather, the band roar on with the old school feel of ‘Return Of The Force’ – a blistering fast-paced romp of all-out traditional heavy metal. Riot City maybe four decades and over three and a half thousand miles away from where heavy metal began – but boy do they have the sound down to a tee. A very glorious sound at that – the band storming on with ‘Paris Nights’. Another top-speed and highly infectious metal tune to bang heads and raise fists high in the air, ‘Paris Nights’ is one of the most melodious songs on offer, and may just attract a few rock fans too.
The galloping nature of ‘Electric Elite’ has brought memories flooding back of my teenage years during the eighties, when I was continually listening to bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Saxon – basically the forefathers of heavy metal. Now I haven’t checked, but I reckon each member of Riot City was not even born then – yet all have the passion and gusto of the bands back then that shaped the sound of metal…the exact same sound they’re delivering now. Simply amazing. Roaring on, the band deliver probably the most infectious and most melodious song on offer – ‘Lucky Diamond’. A treat of traditional metal for fans all over the world, ‘Lucky Diamond’ defines the sound of the heavy metal genre. Bringing ‘Electric Elite’ to a close is the longest song on the album, ‘Severed Ties’ owing a lot of its character to the legendary Iron Maiden – who are famous for their epic album ending long songs. And with so many bands trying to recreate Maiden’s show-stopping finales, Riot City have got it to spot on – the tension-building intro to ‘Severed Ties’ finally launching into a thunderous tirade of all out metal…at three and a half minutes! The band marches on majestically, as they deliver a sparkling end to a very good album.
Overall, an album loaded to the rafters with fast-paced, traditional heavy metal.
TRACKLIST
Eye Of The Jaguar
Beyond The Stars
Tyrant
Ghost Of Reality
Return Of The Force
Paris Nights
Lucky Diamond
Severed Ties
Riot City: Facebook
Release Year: 2022
Label: No Remorse Records
Category: Album
Country: Canada
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire, and Metal-Roos.
