RIOT V, the band featuring members of legendary metal pioneers RIOT, has inked a deal with Nuclear Blast. Hardly any other metal act has such a long and absorbing history behind it. Since the quintet formed in 1975, they have been hit by several severe strokes of fate during their long career. Three deceased members — Rhett Forester (R.I.P. 1994), Guy Speranza (R.I.P. 2003) and Mark Reale (R.I.P. 2012) — have left their mark on the four decades of RIOT's band history. Since their legendary debut album, "Rock City" (1977), RIOT has released numerous heavy metal classics, including "Fire Down Under" (with classics like "Swords And Tequila"), their masterpiece "Thundersteel" (1988) and the unforgotten "The Privilege Of Power" (1990). After the death of Mark Reale and the departure of Tony Moore, Todd Michael Hall (from Michigan), completed the lineup of RIOT, which changed its name to RIOT V and moved forward under the auspices of the two long-term members and main songwriters Donnie van Stavern (bass) and Mike Flyntz (guitar). With the critically acclaimed "Unleash The Fire" (2014), a pure power metal jewel once again underlined the musical importance and influence of the quintet. Many artists name-check RIOT as an important influence of their musical career and have paid tribute to the power metal godfathers on multiple occasions. The list is long and includes several well-known acts such as HAMMERFALL ("Flight Of The Warrior"), Luca Turilli's RHAPSODY ("Thundersteel"), AXEL RUDI PELL ("Warrior") and newcomers such as NIGHT DEMON ("Road Racin'"), ALPHA TIGER ("Flight Of The Warrior"), SAVAGE MASTER ("Swords And Tequila") and STALLION ("Rock City"). "RIOT V is proud to announce our union with the mighty Nuclear Blast label," commented Don Van Stavern. "Two true metal visionaries meet to unleash an assault on all you metal warriors of the world! It's really awesome to be on 'the' metal label and have so much respect and excitement between us. We are in great hands and it's always nice to have a mutual vision of what this band needs to be thrust back onto the metal battlefield and with our thousands of metal soldiers supporting and fighting with us. This will be the start of a great relationship — and it doesn’t hurt that some of the Nuclear Blast staff are longtime fans! Now let's start a riot! Shine on!" RIOT V is busy recording the follow-up to "Unleash The Fire" for a spring 2018 release. Production duties will be handled by Chris "The Wizard" Collier (METAL CHURCH, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, SLIPKNOT, KORN). The new songs promise to please fans of the "Thundersteel" era of RIOT, as longtime Mark Reale music collaborator Don Van Stavern undertakes a lot of the writing, as he did on "Thundersteel", "The Privilege Of Power" and "Unleash The Fire". Don Van Stavern adds: "This next offering will please longtime fans and create new ones, as the material is fresh and power metal at its finest."
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