Steamhammer
2011
1. Riot
2. Still Your Man
3. Crawling
4. Wings Are For Angels
5. Fall Before Me
6. Sins Of The Father
7. Majestica
8. Immortal Soul
9. Insanity
10. Whiskey Man
11. Believe
12. Echoes
In the metal world it doesn't get a whole lot longer lived or more underrated than Riot. I've always enjoyed this band and they've built quite a cult/underground legacy as one of the real pioneers of metal in the USA. Riot just somehow never found their way among the big names of metal where they belonged. Funny how promotion, etc gos. They've always released good albums though and I'd count myself as a fan.
That being said, The Tony Moore era of Riot was short and I never really got all the fuss from a certain segment of Riot fans. To me the Moore era represented one album where the band kinda tried to update themselves to a more in fashion sound (Thundersteel) and a weird, but more interesting album with a brass section (Privilege Of Power). Neither was exactly what I wanted or expected from the band. Both were good, but I can't say I was sad to see Moore go and the band find a more traditional Riot sound again with DiMeo. Moore's albums in both singing and style just never had that soulful metal/rock hybrid that I enjoyed from classic Riot. Heavier, but not really as powerful.
Well, with that intro/minor rant out of the way how does Immortal Soul stack up? Well things get started with some pretty intense and fast guitar on the first track, Riot, which brings to mind memories of Thundersteel. Where time starts to catch up a bit is on the vocals. I've gotta say that Moore's high range sounded forced and, well, not very high. Moore kinda yelps instead of wails and that's a bit detracting. The years haven't been all that kind. Not really bad, but it's not exactly the Painkiller-esque screams I'd expect to accompany this. It seems like that's what he aims for, but can't really get it done. Not a bad track, but not great either. From there Still Your Man is a bit more melodic, but again Moore tries to push his top register again and it doesn't really work. To this point, as to not sound too harsh, I'd consider both tracks pretty decent, but flawed. Neither of these are bad, but they're not without problems. Still Your Man's melodic guitars and Slightly more subdued vocals do work a bit better than the first track.
It isn't until track 3, Crawling, that we really start to get into the good stuff. The title says it all as the song rolls in slowly and creeps along with a nice sinister note to the music. Moore also settles into a more comfortable range and the results are much better. Starting with this one things just get less blunt, screechy, and a whole lot more interesting. Wings Are For Angels blazes with Moore sounding more to my liking, Fall Before Me follows with a nice groove and melody approach, and Sins Of The Father is another good burner with some more mid-range vocals. To make a long story somewhat shorter, this part of Immortal Soul is where it peaks. Pretty much everything from Crawling on is satisfying Riot material though. Even if it does lean a bit heavily on the more speed oriented style that Moore was a part of before. There certainly are some slow downs and more groove & melody moments, but you need to accept this is not Sparanza/DiMeo styled proto-metal/rock stuff. This is pretty much what fans of Moore era Riot might expect.
So what's the verdict? Immortal Soul is a pretty good, more straight up metal album. The slight hold back is the years on Moore's voice, but he does sound more comfortable as the album gos on. Almost seems like a live show where the vocalist warms up and sounds better, which is sort of odd. I guess Riot wanted to kick it off with the real 'screamers', but they're not really the best thing this album has to offer. All in all, a solid effort though not quite up to either Riot's more traditional/old school sound or Moore's stuff when he had a bit more range. Still, Immortal Soul, does have some good material and Riot does seem to have a bit more energy than on the past couple albums. Could be the DiMeo era was getting just a bit stagnant. This isn't perfect either, but there ya go. I'd say this is worth it for people who found the previous Moore era of Riot enjoyable. Despite this not being my favorite Style of Riot exactly, Immortal Soul does have more punch to it than the last couple and I do like it. Just don't expect him to sound like it's 1988 and there are plenty of good songs.
Highlights: Wings Are For Angels, Crawling, Fall Before Me
Rating - 3.5/5
2. Still Your Man
3. Crawling
4. Wings Are For Angels
5. Fall Before Me
6. Sins Of The Father
7. Majestica
8. Immortal Soul
9. Insanity
10. Whiskey Man
11. Believe
12. Echoes
In the metal world it doesn't get a whole lot longer lived or more underrated than Riot. I've always enjoyed this band and they've built quite a cult/underground legacy as one of the real pioneers of metal in the USA. Riot just somehow never found their way among the big names of metal where they belonged. Funny how promotion, etc gos. They've always released good albums though and I'd count myself as a fan.
That being said, The Tony Moore era of Riot was short and I never really got all the fuss from a certain segment of Riot fans. To me the Moore era represented one album where the band kinda tried to update themselves to a more in fashion sound (Thundersteel) and a weird, but more interesting album with a brass section (Privilege Of Power). Neither was exactly what I wanted or expected from the band. Both were good, but I can't say I was sad to see Moore go and the band find a more traditional Riot sound again with DiMeo. Moore's albums in both singing and style just never had that soulful metal/rock hybrid that I enjoyed from classic Riot. Heavier, but not really as powerful.
Well, with that intro/minor rant out of the way how does Immortal Soul stack up? Well things get started with some pretty intense and fast guitar on the first track, Riot, which brings to mind memories of Thundersteel. Where time starts to catch up a bit is on the vocals. I've gotta say that Moore's high range sounded forced and, well, not very high. Moore kinda yelps instead of wails and that's a bit detracting. The years haven't been all that kind. Not really bad, but it's not exactly the Painkiller-esque screams I'd expect to accompany this. It seems like that's what he aims for, but can't really get it done. Not a bad track, but not great either. From there Still Your Man is a bit more melodic, but again Moore tries to push his top register again and it doesn't really work. To this point, as to not sound too harsh, I'd consider both tracks pretty decent, but flawed. Neither of these are bad, but they're not without problems. Still Your Man's melodic guitars and Slightly more subdued vocals do work a bit better than the first track.
It isn't until track 3, Crawling, that we really start to get into the good stuff. The title says it all as the song rolls in slowly and creeps along with a nice sinister note to the music. Moore also settles into a more comfortable range and the results are much better. Starting with this one things just get less blunt, screechy, and a whole lot more interesting. Wings Are For Angels blazes with Moore sounding more to my liking, Fall Before Me follows with a nice groove and melody approach, and Sins Of The Father is another good burner with some more mid-range vocals. To make a long story somewhat shorter, this part of Immortal Soul is where it peaks. Pretty much everything from Crawling on is satisfying Riot material though. Even if it does lean a bit heavily on the more speed oriented style that Moore was a part of before. There certainly are some slow downs and more groove & melody moments, but you need to accept this is not Sparanza/DiMeo styled proto-metal/rock stuff. This is pretty much what fans of Moore era Riot might expect.
So what's the verdict? Immortal Soul is a pretty good, more straight up metal album. The slight hold back is the years on Moore's voice, but he does sound more comfortable as the album gos on. Almost seems like a live show where the vocalist warms up and sounds better, which is sort of odd. I guess Riot wanted to kick it off with the real 'screamers', but they're not really the best thing this album has to offer. All in all, a solid effort though not quite up to either Riot's more traditional/old school sound or Moore's stuff when he had a bit more range. Still, Immortal Soul, does have some good material and Riot does seem to have a bit more energy than on the past couple albums. Could be the DiMeo era was getting just a bit stagnant. This isn't perfect either, but there ya go. I'd say this is worth it for people who found the previous Moore era of Riot enjoyable. Despite this not being my favorite Style of Riot exactly, Immortal Soul does have more punch to it than the last couple and I do like it. Just don't expect him to sound like it's 1988 and there are plenty of good songs.
Highlights: Wings Are For Angels, Crawling, Fall Before Me
Rating - 3.5/5
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