'Through the Storm' marks 25 years since 'Riot's' first release and although chronically underrated throughout their careers, have stuck to their guns and are still producing top Melodic Metal. With the exception of 'Bobby Jarzombek', who was snapped up by 'Rob Halford', the lineup is the same as 'Sons of Society', former 'BOC', 'Black Sabbath' and 'Rainbow' man 'Bobby Rondinelli' takes over the drummer's seat. Overall a better release than 'Sons of Society' and while not out and out as heavy as, the songs are more thoughtfully constructed and features a better production than the predecessor, the nearest album I would compare this to would be 'Nightbreaker'. 'Mark Reale' has definitely brought some of his 'Westworld' influences to the slower tracks, but rest assured this is still classic 'Riot'.

The nothing short of phenomenal 'Turn the Tables' opens the show, this cracker is one of best tracks I have heard this year and long before I got the album I was blasting the MP3 version out. The mainstay for the song is the divine galloping rhythm work which is laid down from the outset and keeps cutting back in throughout, this is interspersed with the usual glorious vocals passages and fine duelling guitars- a modern day classic. Following in admirable fashion is 'Lost inside this World', the intro to which sound very similar to 'Ozzy Osbourne's' 'Over the Mountain'. Sterling vocal work is shown here as 'Tony Harnell's' melodic backing vocals combine with the crisp forcefulness of 'Mike DiMeo's' for blissful harmonies, the challenging axe work should also not be overlooked. The tempo drops for the plodding gem 'Chain (revolving)', it begins fairly ordinarily but picks up well, with fantastic lyrics, which 'Mike DiMeo' does splendidly with. The rhythm section again is strong with 'Pete Perez' laying down strong bass lines and 'Bobby Rondinelli' proving a capable replacement. The title track follows and the intro to which is suggestive of 'Queen', this soon shift however and turns into a riff filled groover, the song writing of 'Reale / Dimeo' is again top drawer, on this well crafted track. 'Let it Show' marks the albums first balladsy song and although not to my tastes, it's a strong effort, with plenty of commitment shown, this track also features 'Josh Pincus' of 'Westworld' on keyboards and could quite easily be straight off their last album 'Cyberdreams'. The pace is stepped up again for the crunchy 'Burn the Sun', here we see classic 'Mark Reale' and 'Mike Flyntz' riffs as they shred through this quality rocker- checkout the duelling guitar soloing, could be straight of 'Thundersteel', magnificent. Less convincing is 'To my Head', I'm not really sure what 'Riot' were trying with this one, for me its sound a little awkward, the chugging chorus ends up repetitive and feels out of place, but all said the vocal work is admirable. Following with the experimental theme is 'Essential Enemies', this track has plenty of potential as it lays down some mean rhythm work, unfortunately they decide to distort some of the vocals, this really brings the track down. Other than that it's decent number with some fine 'Westworld' style symphonic passages and more cutting guitar work. Next up is the customary cover, this time they plunge into the back catalogue of 'UFO', and pick out 'Only you can Rock Me', while they do a respectable job of it, I think there are 'UFO' songs that would have suited 'Riot's' style better, 'Rock Bottom' and 'Let it Roll' springing to mind. The album bows out with two instrumental, 'Isles of Shadows', is a excellently executed number, that sounds very reminiscent of 'Inishmore', with its heavy Irish theme, this is no bad thing though and is a glorious piece. A late addition to the album is 'Mark Reale' and Cos. tribute to 'George Harrison', with a respectful acoustic version of 'Here comes the Sun'.

The first half is 'Riot' at their best, the second half isn't as strong, but this is still an excellent release that's regrettably destined to be overlooked. Personally I wish they would crank the dials a bit more on a couple of tracks, 'Burn the Sun' is along the lines I'm thinking and that of the work on 'Thundersteel', nevermind though this is an album that will please 'Riot' fans after the long three years since 'Sons of Society'.