Riotor - Beast of Riot

Riotor
Beast of Riot
2010 Self Release
Somehow, Canada's Riotor are still unsigned. No matter... the guys decided to just release a full length album themselves. Of the songs here, half have appeared before, and the others are new. Fear not though, the old ones have been re-recorded. Riotor did go for a strange kind of production this time around though. It sounds somewhat thinner than what they had on their previous demos, and it does give the old songs a different vibe than before. The Sacrifice meets Kreator sound is still very much present, but the production is in a full-on "Pleasure to Kill" style. Maybe I've just gotten more used to the thicker post-1990 productions on albums. Even so, Riotor do not sound like some kind of retro throwback to the 1980s. While there are some riffs that sound familiar (I'd swear that the opening of Fucking Metal" is something I've heard on Slayer's "Hell Awaits" album, while the opening of "Poser Hunter" is off something by Kreator) I can't say that I can tell exactly what song I think they're from, nor can I say for sure if they definitely were "borrowed." And the fact is that even if they were, it's not a big deal. It happens all the time. Just look at that guy on YouTube who has practically made a career with those "Metal that Sounds like Other Metal" videos. What does matter is that Riotor play their music their way and it all comes straight from the heart. What they're doing, they're doing for the love of metal, not for money. As a fan, that's all I ask: make music for yourselves first, and if others get into it then great. If not, well, you're still doing what you want to do and that's what really counts.