The legendary RIOT are back in the form of RIOT V. With the passing of guitarist Mark Reale the band Nick Lee is the new addition with bassist Don Van Stavern playing a big part in the writing of this album dedicated to Reale. This is an album that promises not to disappoint and lives up to that.

"Ride Hard Live Free" hits us with an awesome guitar melody right away, before slamming into some classic power metal riffs. Powerful vocals accentuate the melodies really nicely, with some stellar harmonies too. "Metal Warrior" follows this up with some great drumming and some super-fast guitar riffs backed by solid bass playing. The vocals here are really cool, with lots of interesting layering and an awesome guitar solo.

"Fall From The Sky" is an awesome old school metal track, with a great main riff and some cool basslines, traditional lyrical themes and a great chorus too. "Bring The Hammer Down" is also a slice of superb musicianship, with a great chorus, a massive vocal range on display and powerful riffs.

RIOT V really shows what they are capable of with this album, with chunkier heavy tracks like "Kill To Survive" which has a great sense of attitude with yet another mighty chorus. There's also the more melodic material which is just as valid, like "Immortal" which has some great dynamics between verses and choruses, with some well put together sections, and a really emotive chorus.

"Take Me Back" is one of my highlights here, with some really great and interesting dynamics, and a really emotive feeling chorus that is quite catchy too. Another highlight was "Land Of The Rising Sun" which had a really epic feel about the track, with lots of cool

"Until We Meet Again" is the final track here, and this is a nice sounding ballad style track to start with, with some nice bluesy guitars and some tasteful harmonies too. The vocal performance is really great here, with a lot of feeling in this song that feels very much like it was made in memory of Mark Reale

The production here is spot on, with awesome guitar tones, supported by deep bass guitar. The vocal sound is pretty stellar, with lots of layering going on too. The drums are exactly what you'd need for this sort of release.

Unleash The Fire is a blistering cut of real metal, the way this sort of stuff should be done! The talent of each band member is put to very good use here, with fantastic musicianship and songwriting making for a very special album indeed.