This Canadian band hold a special place in metal history for me. Their ‘Livin’ Fast’ demo tape and the following ‘Burn the Night’ debut album are both fantastic. This was also the last band I saw in London before the world went into lockdown.
Riot City are “screaming for vengeance” heavy metal; possessing many qualities also associated with traditional US power metal, it’s metal through and through. Singer Jordan Jacobs has a fantastic range and holds a lot of power in his voice. Add to that a stellar stage presence; we have the full metal frontman. A track like ‘Eye of the Jaguar’ defines this description, persona and band qualities. It is a perfect hybrid of Priest and for me I remember qualities associated with the debut Lost Horizon album. It has real power. I must admit, on this opening track, the screams are a bit OTT high, you get used to this, but I fear for future health issues that may occur, it’s going to blow the bloody doors off!. If you listen to like of Harry Conklin (Jag Panzer) and James Rivera (Helstar), you get a measure of the range. The music however, this solidifies the arrangement and proves the additional oxygen. The original singer Cale Savy is solely focussed on the guitars on this album, there’s some awesome twin guitar work here. Then there’s what I delightfully term “light and shade”. The melody oozing from a track like ‘Beyond the Stars’ add to the technical excellence of the opening track mentioned earlier. Then there’s ‘Tyrant’, this is full on US power metal influenced; the galloping begins with the guitars, f*#k me, there’s some high-power screams! This track also shows the listener where the experience and quality has been gained over the last few years, the arrangement is magical, a perfect band performance.
‘Ghost of Reality’ brings some epic song writing to the battleground. I would name check bands like Heir Apparent and classic Queensryche, even Nevermore as there are vocals similar to Warrel Dane. Classic Ryche with the staccato guitars when it all kicks into gear. I am smiling as I am listening and typing, how is this possible? I need a moment to breathe, the energy is 100% all the time, it IS a fantastic piece of music to listen to possessing effortless transition into lighter sections. I could go track to track, I have in my hand notes, but I won’t include here in detail but…’Paris Nights’ owns the metal crown and delivers more band inclusion in the vocals; ‘Lucky Diamond’ gallops itself into metal folklore, you have to hear this one.
The final track ‘Severed Ties’ shows Jacobs’ vocals hit classic Geoff Tate mode, especially in the expression. About a third of the way through this near 10-minute tune, the torch is lit. The atmospherics from the earlier section of the song has really laid a solid foundation. The group vocals are quite loud in the mix, which could be down to my mp3 files though.
The song writing has certainly improved, a fitting tribute to the cover artist whom I believe passed away recently. In other words, this a metal gift for the whole community, stellar example of fresh, modern bands doing crazy things like out metalling the metal gods! I tip ‘Electric Elite’ to be a future classic album, it’s a triumphant album and essential to all those who love their “metaaaaal”!
(9.5/10 Paul Maddison)
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