RSS Feed


RIOT CITY
Electric Elite

No Remorse (2022)
Rating: 8/10

Back with a bang, Calgary, Alberta-based rockers Riot City enters the fray with full-length album number two, and it’s another expected sizzler hell-bent on tearing off your ears and gutting you like a fish.

With the modern metal scene over-crowded with sound-a-likes and nostalgia clones, Riot City seems to have that extra vim and flair, making its voice heard above the glut of weaker outfits attempting to recreate the 80s.

As with the 2019 Burn The Night debut, the one thing you notice from the start is the rampant axe work and the scorching vocal attack. Riot City bridges the gap between Judas Priest and Exciter, often speeding at high velocity and breaking the sound barrier with each molten streak.

Electric Elite is a metal comet, screaming across the leaden sky like a ball of fire and never-ending in its journey to bring the metal to the masses. ‘Eye Of The Jaguar’ kicks things off and you’re immediately swept up in the iron talons and taken, at high speed, over smoking landscapes and misty cities.

Riot City have always laid waste when it comes to their anthems, never overstaying their welcome but delivering short, sharp shocks of electricity at varying tempos. ‘Beyond The Stars’ is a furiously yet melodic metal outburst, blitzing the horizon with its wild leads and manic percussion.

It’s almost as if each band member is fighting for survival, battling with one another yet so rhythmically in tandem to produce these eight-tracks of devilish wonder. ‘Tyrant’ clanks with a meaty bass, ‘Paris Nights’ is fluid yet burning in its axe work, and album closer ‘Severed Ties’ builds harmoniously before effortlessly gliding.

Riot City is one of the finest contemporary acts doing the rounds, and with each album they set the bar higher and higher, scheming delicious threads of traditional-cum-speed metal precision both grandiose yet seemingly simple. These guys are potent in every department, resulting in a rich and rewarding opus bristling with energy and excitement.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share