For their second album through the German imprint Metalville Records, native New Jerseyan Monster Magnet offshoot Riotgod present a sound that is crisper, tighter and more assured than on their 2010 self-titled debut. is also more directly derived from the stoner/heavy rock vein than was Riotgod (review here), and shows clear intent even in its track listing. Each of the album’s two presented “sides” – in quotes because it’s a CD release and at 59:31, it’s too long to fit on a single LP – ends with a ballad, those being “Gas Station Roses” and “Rebirth,” that through their mere placement set themselves as the cornerstones of what Riotgod is looking to accomplish their second time out. In terms of songwriting, the four-piece doesn’t seem to want to stray too far from the straightforward, well-structured verses and choruses they presented the first time around, but both the guitars of Garrett Sweeny and the vocals of Mark Sunshine offer more diversity, with the rhythm section of bassist Jim Baglino and drummer Bob Pantella (they being the Monster Magnet contingent) keeping a consistent and forward-pointed push whether it’s the darker, moodier chug of “Crossfade” or the grander emotionality of later cut “Loosely Bound.” At just under an hour, Invisible Empire feels long, and some songs work better than others, but each of the total 12 seems to justify its inclusion through diversity, however subtle it might be, whereas with the self-titled that wasn’t the case. If that’s to be the form of Riotgod’s progress, I’ll take it.

The album begins with the formidable swagger of “Breed,” and that sets a tone of classic rock appreciation that the rest of the songs bear out, both riff-wise and in Sunshine’s vocals, which are stellar in their performance but too forward in the mix. His voice has that ability that Chris Cornell had at his peak to just contort seemingly at will and jump in register to what feel like places it shouldn’t be able to jump. He throws some John Garcia-type grit into the approach as well and manages to shift to suit the music, as on the swaying “Firebrand.” As Pantella keeps steady waltz time on the drums and Sweeny noodles a subdued verse, Sunshine takes charge of the melody and caries the track into its chorus, which is among the most effective on Invisible Empire. True, some of the melodies can seem repetitive – more than once through the Alice in Chains-esque backups on “Fool” and they begin to feel overused – but Sunshine could carry this band if he needed to. Fact is, however, that he doesn’t need to. As the ballsier riffing of “Fool” and “Crossfade” work in ‘90s-style distortion behind their verses, the music more than stands up to the vocals, however more prominent the latter might be mix-wise. With “Slow Death,” as with “Breed,” Riotgod modernize a classic approach in a way not so dissimilar from what European tour and labelmates The Quill did on their 2011 offering, Full Circle.

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The funny thing about Riotgod is that while the band is from my home state of New Jersey, I think their second album, Invisible Empire, has more of a European rock style to it. Compared to their self-titled debut, which came out on Metalville last year, Invisible Empire is more outwardly stoner rock. The four-piece throw down unabashed love for ’90s heavy rock greats Kyuss and Soundgarden, and tinge it every now again with something more moody à la Alice in Chains.

Those shifts serve them well on Invisible Empire. Garrett Sweeny‘s riffs feel more prominent, and the band’s time on the road in Europe did them well in terms of nailing down their aesthetic. Vocalist Mark Sunshine is restrained but not repressed, maintaining the classic rock frontman sensibility he brought to the first record while also refining his approach to the rhythms of drummer Bob Pantella and bassist Jim Baglino — both also of Monster Magnet.

And if that band’s stamp shows up anywhere on Invisible Empire, it’s in the straightforward quality of the songwriting Riotgod is able to make sound easy and natural. There isn’t much psychedelia to what they do — some — but instead, the album drives home the notion of the classic working rock band. One hopes they tour again for it, as that clearly seems to be the root of their growth.

I’m lucky enough today to be able to host the track “Fool” for your streaming pleasure, which you’ll find on the player below. Hope you enjoy:

As previously reported, Riotgod‘s Invisible Empire will be released on Metalville on Jan. 31 — it’s already out in Europe. If you like “Fool,” hit the band up on Thee Facebooks or their ReverbNation page, where they have the rest of the album streaming.

New Jersey rockers Riotgod released their first album last year via Metalville Records. As the PR wire informs today, the four-piece will return Jan. 31 with the follow-up, Invisible Empire, which between bassist Jim Baglino and drummer Bob Pantella‘s affiliation with Monster Magnet and Pantella‘s further responsibilities kicking ass in The Atomic Bitchwax, I have no idea when they would’ve had the time to record. But so it goes.

Abridged from the PR wire:

Riotgod began in spirit through the conversations of Monster Magnet‘s Bob Pantella and Jim Baglino while out on tour as early as 2006. While touring with Monster Magnet provided them with some great times and afforded them the opportunity to perform around the world, each communicated a desire to express their own musical ideas.  

Riotgod did its first mini-tour in 2009, hitting the road with fellow NJ rockers The Friends of Bill Wilson. Riotgod would visit the US Midwest and Canada, playing venues such as Chicago‘s Double Door, Detroit‘s Blondies, Toronto‘s Bovine Sex Club as well as some lesser known colorful establishments along the way.

Invisible Empire Track Listing:
1. Breed
2. Fool
3. Crossfade
4. Slow Death
5. Firebrand
6. Gas Station Roses
7. Tomorrow’s Today
8. Saving it Up
9. Loosily Bound
10. Lost
11. Hollow Mirror
12. Rebirth

Though between them they’ve spent years playing in bands like Human Remains, Cycle of Pain, Lord Sterling, The Atomic Bitchwax and The Ribeye Bros., drummer Bob Pantella and bassist Jim Baglino are probably best known at this point as the rhythm section of New Jersey stalwarts Monster Magnet. Likely that’s a job that comes packaged with a lot of ups and downs. You get to tour the world over and have a built-in high profile because of the band’s past success, but probably you don’t get to write much and there’s a lot of downtime. Hoping perhaps to make the most of that, Baglino and Pantella formed Riotgod a couple years back with guitarist Garrett Sweeny and vocalist Mark Sunshine. Their self-titled debut, in digipak/bonus track form, is out on Germany’s Metalville Records.

If you’ve been privy to Monster Magnet’s latest output, you at least have a basis for understanding where Riotgod’s Riotgod is coming from; they play a relatively straightforward (in terms of structure) brand of rock, not quite stoner, but definitely influenced by the heavy ‘70s and with some element of space to it, as the cover and tracks like “Light of the Sun” and “Collapsing Stars” would indicate. The material gets samey toward the album’s back half, but there is plenty of quality songwriting on display, and the production, while modern, isn’t nearly as flat as, say, the last Monster Magnet CD. Sunshine does a pretty good John Garcia on the Zeppelin-esque “The Time is Now,” and the chorus of “Collapsing Stars” proves to be a Riotgod high point, which is surprising for a semi-ballad amidst so many hard rockers, but led into by the atmospheric interlude “Omega,” it doesn’t feel out of place.

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As the rhythm section of New Jersey‘s long-running Monster Magnet, drummer Bob Pantella (also of The Atomic Bitchwax and Cycle of Pain) and bassist Jim Baglino (formerly of Lord Sterling and The Ribeye Brothers) have some time on their hands. Magnet is Dave Wyndorf‘s show and everyone knows it, so while he’s off writing, or not writing, a new album, they’re free to do what they want, which apparently is start the band Riotgod with guitarist Garrett Sweeny and vocalist Mark Sunshine.

I heard Riotgod‘s demo a couple years back and dug the hell out of it, so I’m definitely looking forward to their self-titled full-length, out August 17 on Metalville Records. Tremble before the PR wire’s might and wisdom:

In 2007 Monster Magnet‘s Bob Pantella and Jim Baglino created their own alternate universe under the Riotgod banner, inviting guitarist Garrett Sweeny and the estranged vocalist known only as Sunshine to travel the cosmos with them. Their achieved collective goal is Riotgod, their self-titled debut album (due August 17 on Metalville Records) containing some of the most energetic, recognizable and high quality hard rock this side of Mars.

Drummer and founding member Bob Pantella spoke about the formation of Riotgod:

“It was just Jim and myself, you know, just spending a lot of time on the road and we just had a lot of music that we wanted to create. With Monster Magnet, that’s not really the case for us sometimes. That’s more of Dave‘s thing, so we really just wanted to get together and do something a bit more on our own. There’s a lot of time off and personally we like to work a lot so, the desire to do more began building up over the last couple of years.

“We wanted to try our own thing and call our own shots with musical direction and stuff. We talked about it for years and it took a long time to really find the right people and get going. I’ve always had my recording studio, so it was easy in that aspect but it was hard to find the right ingredients — sounds, personalities and such. We know nothing’s perfect but you want to get people into the same head space. This is a great band to take us to a different level. Being in Monster Magnet is an awesome opportunity to launch other things for us.”

Track listing
1. Light of the Sun
2. Crusader
3. The Time is now
4. Horizon
5. 9th Life
6. Omega
7. Collapsing Stars
8. Pinata
9. Drone Station
10. Love it or Leave it
11. Rift
12. Sweet Kaos
13. High Time
14. Grand Design
15. Fangasm*
16. Minds Eye*
*Bonus tracks on digipak only