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Riot - Sons of Society

1999 Metal Blade Records :: Reviewed by rofreason on 2005-09-04

And they just keep going, and going, and going. Mark Reale has kept Riot alive for over 20 years in one form or another, keeping core members, adding new ones here and there, and SoS is no exception. One of the core elemets that have kept Riot together over the last ten years (besides Mark) is the phenomenal rhythm section of Pete Perez and Bobby Jarzombek. Yeah, they sound familiar, because they're also 2/3 of Spastic Ink. These two are monsters, Jarzombek keeping things interesting almost all of the time, laying back on the slower, "ballad" tracks. Riot is always a mixed bag for me though, always digging a couple songs on each recent album, but finding them not strong enough to carry through the whole hour of material. It's definitely the faster double bass oriented stuff that I find appealing, but I could totally do without those aforementioned three hanky 80s style ballads. I have to say this for Riot though, if someone needed a prime example of a "classic" metal band, Riot would work just fine. All the elements are here, guitar pyrotechnics, amazing solos, and Mike Dimeo belting out tales of fantasy straight from the gut. A bit too cheesy for me most fo the time, but hey, it's Riot, and if I have to make allowances to any band, this is the one. You could do a whole lot worse for your money.