RIOT's classic acclaimed Thundersteel (1988) and The Privilege Of Power (1990) line-up - singer Tony Moore, guitarist Mark Reale, bassist Don Van Stavern and drummer Bobby Jarzombek (along with live guitarist Mike Flyntz) - released their new album, Immortal Soul, on November 22nd in the US and Canada on Steamhammer/SPV Records. Powerline Magazine recently caught up with Reale to discuss the reunion:

Q: Since Thundersteel the band has moved into more of a power metal style. How did this evolution occur? Was it at first due to Tony Moore’s style of singing?

Reale: "The Thundersteel lineup had a certain kind of formula for writing songs and a sound that people loved. Don (Van Stavern) was responsible for a lot of the changes of the sound of Riot during that period because of his background in heavy metal. He wrote most of the songs on Thundersteel and you will hear some of his recognizable style on Immortal Soul. Everybody participated in the writing on this CD. Mike did a lot of excellent writing and lead playing and Bobby of course did his usual awesome drumming and Tony outdid himself lyrically and vocally on this effort. I pretty much took a producer standpoint for a lot of this. I am very proud of these guys and could definitely not have done it without them."

Q: How did Tony Moore come back to the band? Why did he leave in the first place?

Reale: "When the Thundersteel line up broke up over 20 some odd years ago, Don left first due to managerial conflicts, shortly followed by Tony. We kept the lineup going with the remaining members. During that period Don continued on in various projects, touring and recording, whereas Tony kind of left the scene and was doing stuff on a more grounded level. So I think after 20 years of that, and a home life, and then getting thrown back into the fire it was a little overwhelming at that time for him. We all didn’t know how this was going to turn out. But it ended up going from reunion shows to an overwhelming outcry for permanence. He had to step back and re-evaluate his stance during this period. I think he just needed time for this to sink in and that there was such a demand for the group. He had to arrange his personal life’s schedule to give it some priority that it was requiring. He also was seeing the people commenting on him singing, everyone wanted a new CD with him on it. After his short departure we had a band pow wow and we decided to give it a shot again. Tony’s vocals are a big part of this sound and we were exciting to have him back. You will hear on Immortal Soul how lucky we are to have him back. The vocals sound better than 20 years ago! It’s amazing. Hell, the whole band blows me away. Hopefully we can keep this unit together for years to come, God willing."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

The Immortal Soul album is available as a limited digipack with two bonus tracks, double gatefold LP (coloured blue vinyl) and regular jewel case. The artwork (below) was created by the band's vocalist Tony Moore.

The tracklistings for the various formats of Immortal Soul include:

Jewel case version:

'Riot'

'Still Your Man'

'Crawling'

'Wings Are For Angels'

'Fall Before Me'

'Sins Of The Father'

'Majestica'

'Immortal Soul'

'Insanity'

'Whiskey Man'

'Believe'

'Echoes'

Limited Digipak including two bonus tracks:

'Riot'

'Still Your Man'

'Crawling'

'Wings Are For Angels'

'Fall Before Me'

'Sins Of The Father'

'Majestica'

'Immortal Soul'

'Insanity'

'Whiskey Man'

'Believe'

'Echoes'

'Johnny`s Back' (live bonus track *)

'Metal Soldiers' (live bonus track*)

* recorded live at Sweden Rock Festival, June 6th, 2009, Sölvesborg, Sweden

Double Gatefold LP, coloured blue vinyl:

Side A:

'Riot'

'Still Your Man'

'Crawling'

'Wings Are For Angels'

'Fall Before Me'

'Sins Of The Father'

Side B:

'Majestica'

'Immortal Soul'

'Insanity'

'Whiskey Man'

'Believe'

'Echoes'

The new song 'Still Your Man' can be heard on the Soundcloud player below: