And We Ride, Thundering Into the Sky – 100%*

Riot’s Thundersteel is one of the purest distillations of heavy metal I can think of. This album storms out of the gate and doesn’t truly let up throughout it’s concise 46 minute runtime. I don’t feel many albums deserve the 100%. but this one earns it.

Riot is a band that had no shortage of turbulence throughout their decades of activity. They went through members faster than I can recite them, but this album represented the band’s closest foray to a consistent lineup, as the following album had all the same members. This lineup (with the ever-persistent underdog Mark Reale on guitars leading the way) manages to sound like a well-oiled machine throughout Thundersteel.

I first stumbled upon this album via Angrymetalguy’s “Yer Metal Is Olde” article a few years ago, and had not heard much Riot other than the 2 (relative) hits “Fire Down Under” and “Swords and Tequila.” I knew the band often had rather hilarious album art, but didn’t know much about their music. I gave “On Wings of Eagles” a shot and was stunned. How had I missed this album up until that point?

After tracking down a CD of this album, I began listening to it on repeat, and each playthrough seemed to be better than the last. While not a hard album to get into, this album throws earworm after earworm at you, and it’s easy to miss them at first glance. This album often gets classified as power metal, which I think is fair, but for those weary of that subgenre like myself, don’t run away at the mention of power metal alone. If you enjoy Iron Maiden’s gallop, there’s something here for you. Tony Moore’s vocals also truly shine here, and are a bit more easygoing than Rob Halford’s rather frenetic “Painkiller” performance (which I absolutely adore). I typically stick to the more extreme metal end of the spectrum, but this album, alongside Helloween’s first 3 full lengths, Savatage’s great run of albums through the ’80s and ’90s and Cirith Ungol’s discography all wave the flag high for heavy metal/power metal.

I want to touch on the production of this album, as it’s an oddity in that regard. Roughly half of the songs on this album have Mark Edwards on drums (Fight or Fall, Sign of the Crimson Storm, On Wings of Eagles, and Bloodstreets). I find that these 4 songs sound a bit different. Mark Edwards’ drumming is most distinct on “On Wings of Eagles,” where he achieves a shuffle-like sound with his double-kick work. The guitar tone on the songs with Edwards on drums is a bit crunchier, and the palm-muted tone has a bit more heft to it. As well, the bass sticks out significantly more on these tracks, and even inserts a number of fills. This makes the stringed instruments much thicker, and the bass tone in particular truly complements the low-end and fills out the sound nicely. This is one of my favourite metal albums for bass tone just off these 4 tracks alone.

On the rest of the songs, Bobby Jarzombek does a great job behind the kit. However, the production on the 5 songs with Jarzombek on drums are different in terms of production. They sound a bit thinner, and the drums have a bit less reverb overall. The bass still sticks out on these tracks (especially Johnny’s Back), but the tone isn’t quite as thick as the Edwards tracks. The guitars still sound fantastic, but the palm-muted tone in particular is not quite as thick. As a small aside, the vocals sound like they’re mixed about the same between the otherwise different sounding instrumental backdrop as far as I can tell.

Now, I think if you truly needed to encapsulate why people love metal, just play “On Wings of Eagles” and “Bloodstreets” off this album. On Wings of Eagles is a raging track with soaring vocals, throbbing bass, and truly grabs the listener from the drum intro. Bloodstreets shows the more dynamic side of both metal and this album. It features acoustic guitars, whistling, and a small touch of synthesizer before picking up to a mid-tempo trot. I think this album expresses the triumph over perpetual underdog status that Mark Reale had struggled with for years. Bloodstreets’ lyrics seem quite poignant in the context of the band’s history up to this point. Keep in mind, Mark Reale had left New York City by the time he was writing Thundersteel, and had essentially given up on Riot. He formed a new band down in Texas called Narita with a whole new lineup before reconfiguring the band into the new incarnation of Riot.

This is not to dismiss the rest of the album. After all, it’s getting the venerable perfect 100%. Each track justifies itself and adds something a bit different. While I have always held side B to be a bit better than Side A, there is no weak spots to be found here. While not an experimental album in the typical sense of the word, the closer “Buried Alive (Tell Tale Heart)” expands on the template set by slower songs like “Johnny’s Back” and “Bloodstreets” but adds an extra dose of atmosphere through more extensive use of synthesizer, multi-layered harmonized guitars, and bells. This track hints at the experimentation Mark Reale would go much further with on the next couple of albums.

While Riot would tumble back into tough times after the following album, Thundersteel represents Riot and metal at its best. For a brief moment in 1988, Riot was hungry and firing on all cylinders. This album is an absolute must-listen for anyone and everyone who loves metal.

*Originally posted on the Metal Archives as “Celestialemissary”

*Originally posted on the Metal Archives as “Celestialemissary”