Riot V was formed in 1975 in New York by guitarist Mark Reale and drummer Peter Bitelli. The line-up was completed by bassist Phil Faith, and a little later vocalist Guy Speranza joined.
The group decided not to delay their appearance and immediately declared itself. They performed in clubs and festivals in New York. At this time, the guys got a keyboardist Steve Costello, with the advent of which new singles began to be written. Reale was able to negotiate a contract with the independent label Fire Sign Records. The first album "Rock City" was recorded there. In the process of preparing the disc, changes took place in the team: Kuvaris played instead of Costello, Jimmy Iommi took the place of Feit.
Riot V Promotion
The album "Rock City" was very successful, and became the reason for the beginning of the tour of the United States, along with AC/DC and Molly Hatchet. But over time, the popularity of the group began to wane. During this difficult moment, the team was helped by DJ Neil Kay, who promoted their disc during NWOBHM.
Riot's wave of success followed. The group had new managers - Loeb and Arnell. They also contributed to the conclusion of a new lucrative contract for recording the next album with the Capitol studio. At this time, Kuvaris leaves the team, he is replaced by Rick Ventura. Peter Bitelli would later follow suit and be replaced by Sandy Slavin.
The album "Narita" was released in 1979, which also had a wild success with listeners. The musicians go on tour with Sammy Hagar, and when Faith returns, he leaves the band. Now the new bassist is Kip Lemming.
Riot signs a new deal with Elektra, where they record their studio CD Fire Down Under in 1981. And he became the most loved and successful among all the works of musicians in the style of heavy metal.
Change of vocalist and the breakup of Riot V
The group again goes on tour, during which Speranza leaves. Upon his return, they take Rhett Forrester in his place. Together they create the Restless Breed record and go on tour with the Scorpions and Whitesnake bands.
In 1983, the group signed a contract with the Canadian Quality label, on the basis of which the Born in America disc was written. Several line-up changes followed, and the end of the band was the departure of Forrester in '84, who began his solo career.
Riot V Resurrection
Reale created his own musical project, but later abandoned it in favor of recreating the old group. The line-up now looked like this: Sandy Slavin (drums), Van Stavern (bass), Harry Conklin (vocals). The latter stayed in the composition for a short time, and was fired.
In his place, Forrester returned, but quickly realized his loss of interest in group creativity. Later, Slavin also left the band, and Reale and Stavern decided to create a band with new faces: vocalist Tony Moore and drummer Mark Edwards. Bobby Jarombek will replace the latter on the next album. The team recorded the record "Thundersteel" in 1988, which is still considered the best work of the musicians.
In 1990, the next disc "The Privilege of Power" was released, after which Stavern left the group. Pete Perez comes in instead. After several changes in the band, the guys released the album "Nightbreaker" in 1993, which already had a different sound. Now it's hard rock, like Deep Purple.
In 1995, the album "The Breathen of the Long House" was released with a new drummer John Macaluso. Riot embarks on a European tour in support of their album, and Macaluso quits as a result. Yarzombek returns to his place.
There were many replacements in the team, and several discs worthy of attention were recorded. In parallel, the musicians took part in various shows and related projects. The album “Army of One” was being prepared for a long time, and yet in 2006 it was released. After several line-up changes and force majeure, Riot broke up again.
Rise from the ashes
In 2008, a re-creation of Riot was announced with Reale, Moore, Stavern, Yarzombek. They were now complemented by guitarist Flintz. With this line-up, the band performed at a festival in Sweden in 2009.
In 2011, a contract was signed with the label "Steamhammer" and the album "Immortal Soul" was created, which was a huge success due to the return to the classic power metal style.
Name change
The band was supposed to go on tour in 2012, but guitarist Reale overcame Crohn's disease, which he had since childhood. He fell into a coma and died. After that, the musicians decided to organize several concerts in memory of their colleague and friend.
In 2013, the band announced that they were changing their name to Riot V and adding the following members to their line-up: Todd Michael Hall as vocalist, Frank Gilchrist on drums, and guitarist Nick Lee.
With renewed vigor, the album "Unleash the Fire" (2014) is created, which makes a splash among listeners and fans of the group. The team goes on a long tour with participation in festivals in America, Japan and Europe. The latest album to date was released in 2018 with the title "Armor of Light", which was the second album by Riot V.
