Through the Storm

Riot: Mike DiMeo (vocals); Mark Reale (acoustic & electric guitars, keyboards); Mike Flyntz (electric guitar); Pete Perez (bass); Bobby Rondinell (drums).
Additional personnel: Yoko Kayumi (violin, recorder, keyboards); Josh Pincus (keyboards); Tony Harnell (background vocals).
Recorded at Millbrook Sound Studios, Millbrook, New York.
Twenty-five years after their first release, it wouldn't be right to simply dismiss Riot as aging '80s metal hacks. It's true that the music on 2002's Through the Storm is dated and uncomfortably dramatic, but new underground movements (especially in Europe) made this approach to metal hip again in the late '90s. After considering Riot's history, Through the Storm actually makes a lot of sense. All of this group's best recordings have a unique stylistic twist. Reshaping the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and later power metal forms with bluesy arena rock overtones became a Riot specialty over the years, and they do it again on this 2002 Metal Blade offering. Too often Riot gets tossed into the '80s also-rans-caught-in-a-time-warp category. Old-school metalheads who know the difference between this talented New York outfit and the likes of XYZ and Danger Danger probably won't agree with such a description. Sure, they're no Iron Maiden, and Through the Storm isn't exactly significant, but it's respectable, and fans of the band will enjoy it. ~ Vincent Jeffries