Canada has always been a country that can deliver hight quality music and bands. Just go through your collection, or Spotify list, and try and find out how many are actually Canadian. Or started there before they moved to LA (as if that would make you a better musician). RIOT CITY is definitely Canadian and apparently proud of it. And they should be, as their 2019 debut album "Burn The Night" amazed friend and foe, even making a lot of year lists as well. Now they are showering us with their latest effort called "Electric Elite" and they say they have evolved.

They are now a Heavy Metal band that also dares to go into Power Metal and even NWOBHM territory. Plus, they have a new singer in Jordan Jacobs, giving former singer and guitarist Cale Savy the chance to concentrate on his instrument instead of his vocal cords. The first part has been done very well, the music that RIOT CITY is sending through my earholes is fast, furious, diverse and always interesting. They know when to go fast, when to slow down, but also know how to capture the aggression and enthusiasm that makes music into an emotional force to be reckoned with.

The second part hasn't worked out as good as I hoped it would. The new singer has a great voice, where he sounds like Geoff Tate (QUEENSRŸCHE) when he sings low and like Eric Adams (MANOWAR) when he sings higher or shouts. He also screams. Unfortunately so, as I feel that those are just put in at random, and in the wrong places. It makes him sound like a hysterical kid that isn't getting his candy on time. And that is a pity, because I do feel that he has the right kind of voice for RIOT CITY. It makes that I have to take down the rating a notch or two in comparison to if he had hit the right notes all through the album.

Maybe I am being an old bore, but that's my opinion. And it pains me to have to type this, especially because of the high quality of Heavy Metal music that the band are showcasing on "Electric Elite". I am slowly getting used to the way Jordan Jacobs uses his voice, but I'm afraid that people that hear this for the first time might be put off, and therefore not acquire this album through the proper channels. RIOT CITY and "Electric Elite" don't deserve that.