Artist: Riot
Label: Metal Blade
Release Date: 8/27/02
|
|
Title: Through the Storm Artist: Riot Label: Metal Blade Release Date: 8/27/02 |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
|
0 | ||
|
1 | ||
|
2 | ||
|
|
Go to Reader Reviews | ||
Abyss's Review:
I must admit I was a little taken back when I received word that I'd be reviewing the new Riot CD for the Judgment Committee. With all due respect for their longevity and the loyalty of their fans, Riot's importance to metal in this era seems to be more rooted in nostalgia than anything else. I will admit that I have never been a fan of this band, and their new album Through the Storm is not going to change that.
"While this band may command my respect, I have to be honest and say I absolutely hate their music." I admit that a band that's been around this long has to have a great deal of integrity to weather the trends and retain a following throughout the years. Unfortunately, integrity only goes so far. So while this band may command my respect, I have to be honest and say I absolutely hate their music. This album not only seems out of place in this era of growling vocals and thundering blastbeats, it seems anemic for almost any era I can think of. It is basically the bubble gum glam of the late eighties with a more metallic sensibility, meaning it's stripped down of the image and glitz, and the lyrics don't center around partying and getting laid. And that's the biggest problem, it's not that the music isn't heavy, it's that it has no edge. It comes across as impotent and aged, and really doesn't have any of the characteristics I look for in listening to music.
I would be struggling to call the songwriting bland, as there is not even the semblance of hook in any of these songs. I just think that bands from their bygone era are out of place in today's metal world. Take another heavily influential band from the early eighties like Venom. Venom's influence on modern metal has been well documented, but their last album was nothing to write home about (so I didn't write home), but even it held my attention better than this.
"I would be struggling to call the songwriting bland, as there is not even the semblance of hook in any of these songs." It is very likely that I have no real business reviewing this disc, but alas, I must. I would suggest most metalheads to stay away from this one, and I'm really not sure what I'd say to the longtime fans as I'm not really sure why they liked this band in the first place. One word review: Bad.
Death's Review:
I am definitely a connoisseur of the early days of metal, and can appreciate even some of the more commercial sounding purveyors of the classic, traditional metal sound. However I am not really familiar with Riot's back catalogue, a somewhat surprising fact for me given the fact that the band dates back to 1976. Still, I was interested in this record and warmly received the assignment, having read the mighty Requiem's classic review of 1988's Thundersteel. Requiem is usually quite the reliable source of heavy metal knowledge. Not this time. I don't know if the old stuff is that much better or what, but this new Riot album is not really very good, and sometimes borders on just plain awful.
"I don't know if the old stuff is that much better or what, but this new Riot album is not really very good, and sometimes borders on just plain awful." Sure, if you are into classic Rainbow, U.F.O., Deep Purple, Dio, etc., you might like this style. The problem is that this doesn't even come close to being as interesting as Dio's worst moment, and Purple's classic Machine Head or even their 1980's comeback album Perfect Strangers simply blow this piece of shit away. As for U.F.O., I can't say I have a fucking clue, but I had already picked out track 9, "Only You Can Rock Me" as one of the worst songs I have ever heard. It is fucking horrible, embarrassing and essentially unlistenable without wanting to shoot yourself. It sounds like the fucking band Boston or something! It is so cheesy that when I pulled into work today with that song on the stereo I made sure to skip forward a track before shutting off the engine on the off chance that I ended up needing to give someone a ride for some reason later in the day--no fucking way was I going to be caught dead passively endorsing that piece of shit by having it on my stereo, even if it was just for a second between turning on the engine and hitting the eject button. Of course, all of these thoughts were firmly lodged in my head before I realized that this was a U.F.O. cover, a fact I suppose I hold as mildly redeeming for Riot but definitely not a good sign for any impending U.F.O. fandom of mine which might (or might not) develop in the coming years.
Adding to the pain is the totally unnecessary instrumental version of the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun". Sure, original Riot member Mike Reale is a good guitar player, and displays some killer leads (or is it the other guy, Mike Flyntz, who is ripping away throughout the record? Perhaps both of them are pretty good players.). Heck, the whole band is fairly talented musicianship-wise, or at least competent. The dual-guitar melody lines employed on many of the tracks sometimes sound cool, like the opening riff on the opening track ("Turn the Tables"). But even the catchiest of the new Riot originals like "To My Head" sound way more like Whitesnake meets Warrant (and not as good as either one) than Rainbow, Deep Purple or Black Sabbath's Born Again. And the even the "artier" stuff (I use the term loosely), like the middle-eastern and mysterious flair of "Essential Enemies" (probably the album's best track) seems to go nowhere and stops just short of evoking any kind of feel that could truly be considered as anything dramatic.
"This album pretty much sucks." Maybe there's some better Riot material out there and it just happened before my time (their commonly-accepted definitive album, Fire Down Under, was released in 1981). I do commend them for blending some modern European power metal stylings with their classic-styled hard rock, but, judging by the 2002 material alone, it's no surprise that Riot remains relatively unheralded while many of the bands they evoke had their moment in the sun at one point or another.
This album pretty much sucks.
Hel's Review:
Through the Storm will transport you nearly twenty years back in time. The latest effort from the classic band, Riot, brings with it both the spirit and sound of this heyday of metal. If you an old-school warrior from this particular era, you will most likely react to this record as you would the return of an old friend. Riot has frozen these moments in time, and like a bug captured in amber, each detail is perfectly preserved.
"A single listen to Through the Storm will transport you nearly twenty years back in time." The wild card factor for this record is whether or not the listener will still embrace this style. Some will find it stale and worn, an old hat they tossed out years ago, after finally acknowledging that it was so far past its prime it was no longer even serviceable. For these fans, this album will sound more like nails on a chalkboard than like anything they would willingly listen to.
"My potential horror at the retro feel of this record is tempered by the honesty that permeates every note." For others, the pure nostalgia resurrected by this album will be welcome, like the aforementioned old friend, who had not been seen in so many years they had been nearly forgotten altogether. I find myself somewhat in the middle, my potential horror at the retro feel of this record tempered by the honesty that permeates every note. This is not the kind of music I am drawn to anymore, but the boys in Riot still feel it in their bones - every fiber of their being is infused with the joy they found it this era, and you can hear that honest passion in every note.
So while Through the Storm is not anything I will be putting back into my player anytime soon, I can appreciate it enough to not utterly condemn it for what it is. Those of you who long for a new record exuding the essence of this era should buy it, others may not want to.
[- Metal Judgment Home -] [- Email Metal Judgment -]
©1999 Metal Judgment. All rights reserved.