Whilst there is not one moment on Riot City‘s new album, Electric Elite, that could be regarded as in any way original, it’s hard not to be swept away by the band’s unalloyed enthusiasm for heavy metal and all it’s traits, tropes and traditions…

Of course it helps that what we have here is a band of incredibly talented musicians; On Electric Elite they leave no stone unturned in their quest to pay homage to the old Gods, with vocalist Jordan Jacobs – imagine a pulse-racing mix of primetime Halford, Tate and Crimson Glory‘s much-missed Midnight – in particular giving a performance that would actually give a fair few of those ancient deities a run for their money.

Some of the arrangements here are truly magnificent – the backing vocals on Ghost of Reality, for instance, take the song to a whole other level – whilst the guitar playing of Cale Savvy and Roldan Reimer is beyond reproach. So, whilst the galloping Return of the Force may be hackneyed in the extreme, the band’s delivery, all wide eyed and committed to the heavy metal cause – means that the listener finds themselves too busy banging their head to get involved in detailed dissection of the song’s perceived faults. Great heavy metal should always hit the heart as much as the head – and this is seriously good heavy metal…

Chad Vallier (drums) and bassist Dustin Smith shouldn’t be forgotten either – their work in the engine room means that  Jacobs, Savvy and Reimer can indulge their flights of fancy safe in the knowledge that the bottom end is in secure hands – and when the band lock in together on the proggy closer, the quite excellent Severed Ties, you get the sense that, with a bit of luck and a following wind, they might just be traditional heavy metal’s new Guardians of the Flame. This is truly stirring stuff, and I can’t recommend it highly enough to any true believers out there who may be reading this!

Electric Elite releases on October 14th.