As posted to the band’s official facebook page: “Went to vist Mark and took some pix of his headstone (front and back) Marks Official headstone ceremony this Sat, Aug. 11th @ 10am at Holy Cross Cemetary (17501 Nacogdoches Rd) in San Antonio, Texas (behind Rolling Oaks Mall) Public invited…………….Shine On!….DVS”

The official headstone ceremony for late RIOT guitarist Mark Reale will be held this Saturday, August 11 at 10:00 a.m. at Holy Cross Cemetary (17501 Nacogdoches Rd.) in San Antonio, Texas (behind Rolling Oaks Mall). The event is open to the public.

Reale died on January 25 in a San Antonio hospital due to complications of Crohn’s disease — an ailment he had battled for most of his life. He was 56 years old.

Reale had reportedly been in a coma for two weeks after suffering a subarachnoid hemorrhage on January 11.

Mark is survived by his father, Anthony Reale, and was preceded in death by his mother, Frances Reale.

Mark spent most of his life working and performing while enduring almost constant pain and the side effects of treatment for Crohn’s disease. He was in Texas bravely attempting to practice for the shows, but was felled by a severe onset of Crohn’s symptoms, leaving him in the Intensive Care Unit at an undisclosed facility. Mark was struggling with these symptoms throughout the production of RIOT’s new album, “Immortal Soul”, and guitarist Mike Flyntz recorded a major portion of the guitars on the LP with Mark’s creative direction while Reale was unable to perform.

RIOT – ‘Immortal Soul’ – Easily one of the best releases of 2011.

RIP Mark Reale

RIOT guitarist Mike Flyntz has issued the following statement regarding the passing of the band’s founding guitarist Mark Reale, who passed away January 25th in a San Antonio hospital due to complications of Crohn’s disease — an ailment he battled for most of his life. He was 57 years old.

“I would like to thank everyone for the support and love regarding the passing of my dear friend Mark Reale. I have had the honor to stand next to him on the stage and in the studio for over 22 years. Mark gave me the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of recording and writing records, and also touring in support of those records. I was a fan first, getting his autograph after a Riot show at L’Amours when I was in college. Mark was a shy man who didn’t talk much unless he was being interviewed or on the phone. Lord knows he could talk on the phone. Mark also loved to laugh. One part of our special relationship was that we could laugh until we were crying, and he would be lying on the floor yelling ‘please stop’ and after five minutes of silence all I had to do was look at him and it would start all over. I will forever cherish those moments.

As far as a musician, he is the most underrated guitarist, songwriter, riff creator, visionary in rock music. He should be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for his vibrato alone. LISTEN TO HIS VIBRATO. His sense of melody was incredible. He taught me so much. There is so much more I need to say about my friend but I have been at a loss of words since his passing. The only comfort I have is that he is out of pain. I will attempt to talk more about it with Fingers, Sunday night during a Mark Reale tribute on Fingers Metal Shop on WBAB 102.3, Long Island New York.

Thank you everyone!”

RIP Mark Reale

On Wednesday, January 25th, RIOT guitarist and founder Mark Reale passed away due to complications stemming from Crohn’s disease in a San Antonio hospital. He was 56 year old.

Reale had been in a coma since January 11th due to a subarachnoid hemorrhage. He had battled Crohn’s for most of his life, working and performing while enduring almost constant pain and the side effects of treatment for his illness. He was in Texas bravely attempting to practice for the band’s scheduled shows, but was felled by a severe onset of Crohn’s symptoms, which eventually put him in the Intensive Care Unit.

Reale’s Riot bandmates have issued the following statement:

“To friends and fans of Mark Reale and Riot, we are deeply saddened to confirm that Mark has lost his battle with a lifelong illness. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated by Mark’s family, friends, and bandmates at this difficult time.”

Metal Blade founder and CEO Brian Slagel commented:

“I was a huge fan of Riot’s Fire Down Under album and got to interview them for my fanzine. Great guys and I was lucky enough to finally re-issue Fire Down Under and the other early Riot albums on Metal Blade. We signed the band for their second run, so to speak, and put out some records in the ’90s that did well, especially in Europe and Japan. It was a pleasure working with them and Mark was always a kind soul — an amazing player who really has a big time place in the history of metal. One of the really nice guys who put out some incredible stuff.”

Metal-Rules.com commented:

“It’s a sad day for all of us RIOT fans today. We have lost one of the great influences in metal. For those not familiar with Riot, do yourselves a favour and have a listen. Riot have released albums in 5 separate decades and stand as one of the best metal has ever had to offer. You will be missed Mr. Reale…thanks for the music and may your “immortal soul” shine on forever through your music.

Here is the Mark Reale interview which was conducted in 2009 at Swedenrock. Riot’s album IMMORTAL SOUL was chosen by the staff of Metal-Rules.com as the #3 album of 2011. “

Mark Reale

Late last week RIOT founder and guitarist Mark Reale was been admitted to a San Antonio, Texas hospital in critical condition due to complications of Crohn’s disease. Due to complications arising from treatment for Mark’s illness, he remains hospitalized in San Antonio and will not be healthy enough to appear at upcoming shows as scheduled. Mike (Flyntz; guitar), Tony (Moore; vocals), Bobby (Jarzombek; drums) and Don (Van Stavern; bass) have, at the strong urging of Mark’s family, decided to perform the shows without Mark on guitar.

A new band update on his condition reads as follows: “We are receiving updates on his condition several times daily, and Mark is currently undergoing procedures to stabilize him. His father, in addition to several dedicated friends of the band and the family, are at Mark’s side constantly as doctors work to restore him to health. In accordance with the family’s wishes, no further details are being released at this time. While we are saddened by these developments, Riot’s music has been Mark’s lifeblood for over 30 years. We have struggled with idea of performing without him, and we are continuing to prepare with heavy hearts, but the entire Riot organization has agreed on the importance of bringing our music to the fans who have supported us for so long. We ask that friends and fans pray for the best possible outcome. Thank you for continuing to support Riot during this difficult time, and we will see you at the shows.”

January
18 – New York City, NY – B.B. Kings
19 – West Springfield, VA – Jaxx
20 – Rochester, NY – Montage Music Hall
23 – Miami – 70.000 Tons of Metal

July
27 – Hamburg, Germany – Headbangers Open Air

Source: http://www.riotrockcity.com/web/pages/news/news12.php

Mark Reale

RIOT founder and guitarist Mark Reale has been admitted to a San Antonio hospital in critical condition due to complications of Crohn’s disease. Subsequently, there is a possibility that he may not appear in the band’s upcoming performances in the US Northeast and aboard the 70000 Tons Of Metal Cruise to Grand Cayman.

According to a band update: “Mark has been battling Crohn’s for most of his life, working and performing while enduring almost constant pain and the side effects of treatment for his illness. He was in Texas bravely attempting to practice for the shows, but was felled by a severe onset of Crohn’s symptoms leaving him in the Intensive Care Unit at an undisclosed facility.

The band has agreed that the performances will take place as scheduled with the possibility that Mark may not be well enough in time to appear. Riot would also like to acknowledge that Mark has been struggling with these symptoms throughout the production of their new album, Immortal Soul, and that guitarist Mike Flyntz recorded a major portion of the guitars on the album with Mark’s creative direction while he was unable to perform.

For this reason, fans can be assured that the show will be as exciting as anything Riot has ever staged, even if Mike needs to hold down double guitar duty. Mark will be sorely missed in this event, but the shows will go on.

We ask fans and friends of the band to pray for Mark’s speedy recovery, and to support the band in our efforts to bring you the Riot reunion shows that have been so long in the making. While Mark’s family insists on privacy during this difficult time, your prayers and good wishes will make it to his bedside until he is able to return to the stage.”

Drummer Bobby Jarzombek (HALFORD, RIOT, FATES WARNING, SEBASTIAN BACH) has posted the following update on his website www.bobbyjarzombek.com :

“Just wanted to turn your attention to the latest issue of SICK DRUMMER magazine which is online now at this location http://www.sickdrummermagazine.com/issue21_free/. The guys were kind enough to put me on the cover (a first for me!) and put together a marathon 20-page feature you can read on pages 56 through 77. I don’t think I’ll have to do another interview for a long time – just about anything you ever wanted to know about me as a drummer is in there. Thanks again, Ian!

“My year is slowly winding down (doing local gigs and continuing work on a cool Danish prog metal project throughout December) but the first half of 2012 is already shaping up nicely and will keep me on the road quite a bit. I’ve got January U.S. shows with RIOT, pending European dates with FATES WARNING for March, February and April stints with SEBASTIAN BACH, and an exclusive headline gig with ARCH/MATHEOS in Germany at the end of April.”

Confirmed gigs are as follows:

RIOT:
Jan. 18 – B.B. King’s – New York, NY
Jan. 19 – Jaxx – West Springfield, VA
Jan. 20 – Montage Music Hall – Rochester, NY
Jan. 23 – 28 – 70.000 Tons Of Metal Cruise (Miami to Cayman Islands and back)

SEBASTIAN BACH:
Feb. 11 – Deerfoot Inn & Casino – Calgary, AB
April 12 – Teatro Caupolican – Santiago, Chile
April 13 – Teatro Flores – Buenos Aires, Argentina
April 14 – Carioca Club – São Paulo, Brazil
April 15 – Opiniao – Porto Alegre, Brazil

ARCH/MATHEOS:
April 27 / 28 – Keep It True Festival, Tauberfrankenhalle – Lauda-Königshofen, Germany

Bobby Jarzombek online:
www.bobbyjarzombek.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Bobby-Jarzombek/165116743509037
www.myspace.com/bobbyjarzombek
www.youtube.com/user/bobbyjarzombektv

They have been anchored outside New York City for quite a while now. Not saying that they will not possibly come back for more one day, it’s time for them to leave. Now that they will be setting sail again, how long will it take until they will have another RIOT on board? 70000TONS OF METAL, The World’s Biggest Floating Heavy Metal Festival now has 23 out of 40 on board and counting……

Make no mistake, 70000TONS OF METAL is not your grandma’s cruise. It’s also not one of the cruises that share the ship with normal cruise guests. This is an all heavy metal cruise! Can you imagine that? A whole luxury cruise ship full of metalheads? And since there is no backstage area you will have the opportunity to mingle side-by-side with the artists in this incredibly fan-friendly scenario that has no comparison. It’s like everyone has a backstage pass!

So far 23 out of a total of 40 bands on board are known:

AMORPHIS

CANNIBAL CORPSE

CORONER

DARK FUNERAL

ELUVEITIE

GOD DETHRONED

GRAVE DIGGER

HAMMERFALL

IN EXTREMO

MOONSORROW

MY DYING BRIDE

NIGHTWISH

OVERKILL

PESTILENCE

RIOT

SAMAEL

STRATOVARIUS

SUFFOCATION

TANKARD

THERION

TRISTANIA

VIRGIN STEELE

WHIPLASH

70000TONS OF METAL will sail Monday, January 23, 2012 aboard the Royal Caribbean “Majesty of the Seas” from Miami FL to George Town, Cayman Islands and will not return you to the real world for four days until Friday, January 27, 2012.

Ticket prices start at US$666 plus US$289 taxes and fees per person and include all on-board entertainment, non-alcoholic and non-carbonated beverages, all meals at the dining rooms, most on-board restaurants and even 24 room service!

What are you waiting for? You might even need a vacation from this vacation when all is said and done! Check out http://www.70000tons.com/ for more information and book your cabin NOW!

RIOT - 'Immortal Soul'

Legendary U.S. metal band RIOT have revealed the cover artwork and track listing for their forthcoming album “Immortal Soul”, which will be released on October 21 in Japan via Marquee/Avalon, October 26 in Scandinavia, October 28 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, October 31 in the rest of Europe, and November 22 in the U.S. and Canada on Steamhammer/SPV Records. The artwork was done by the band’s vocalist Tony Moore.

“Immortal Soul” track listing:

01. Riot

02. Still Your Man

03. Crawling

04. Wings Are For Angels

05. Fall Before Me

06. Sins Of The Father

07. Majestica

08. Immortal Soul

09. Insanity

10. Whiskey Man

11. Believe

12. Echoes

RIOT has been confirmed as special guest on the first leg of HAMMERFALL’s Europoean tour this winter. The trek kicks off on October 26 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and ends on November 18 in Cologne, Germany. This will be the first time the legendary “Thundersteel” and “The Privilege Of Power” line-up of Tony Moore (vocals), Mark Reale (guitar), Mike Flyntz (guitar), Don Van Stavern (bass), and Bobby Jarzombek (drums) has played in Europe on a full tour, after the band’s celebrated one-off shows at Sweden Rock and Metalway Festival in 2009.

‘European Outbreak 2011′ tour dates:

Oct. 26 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Amager Bio

Oct. 27 – Oslo, Norway – Rockfeller

Oct. 28 – Gothenburg, Sweden – Lisebergshallen

Oct. 29 – Stockholm, Sweden – Arenan

Oct. 31 – Hamburg, Germany – Große Freiheit

Nov. 01 – Antwerp, Belgium – Trix

Nov. 02 – Filderstadt, Germany – Filharmonie

Nov. 04 – Oberhausen, Germany – Turbinenhalle

Nov. 05 – Paris, France – Bataclan

Nov. 06 – Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg – Rockhal

Nov. 07 – Zurich, Switzerland – Volkhaus

Nov. 09 – Vienna, Austria – Arena

Nov. 10 – Graz, Austria – Orpheum

Nov. 11 – Milan, Italy – Magazinni Generali

Nov. 12 – München, Germany – Theaterfabrik

Nov. 15 – Warzaw, Poland – Stodola

Nov. 16 – Berlin, Germany – Huxleys

Nov. 17 – Tilburg, Netherlands – 013

Nov. 18 – Köln, Germany – Essigfabrik
RIOT online:
www.riotrockcity.com
www.facebook.com/pages/riotrockcity

Tony Moore

Guitar legend Mark Reale from reunited/reactivated Texas metallers RIOT suffered a leg injury recently that has kept him bed-ridden.

Says Reale, “it sucks this happened with me because we are moving forward with Tony Moore (Thundersteel-era) on vocals. He came up and burned the four tracks we had ready for him and there’s a lot more great tones to choose from! I can’t wait to get going again as soon as possible. Tony sounds great! But it looks like the album at this time will most likely see the light of day in 2011.”

Riot’s shows in Japan, Sweden and Spain were filmed so expect some kind of DVD in the future.

MARK REALE

Although the New York based band RIOT was formed in 1975 by guitarist Mark Reale, they reached their biggest success in the early ‘80s with the classic release FIRE DOWN UNDER. The band then went on to release a number of albums before releasing the landmark disc THUNDERSTEEL . The now reunited, classic THUNDERSTEEL lineup consists of, in addition to founder Mark Reale, Tony Moore on vocals, Don Van Stavern on bass, Bobby Jarzombek on drums, with Mike Flyntz on second guitar. We caught up with Mark backstage at the Sweden Rock Festival to discuss some of the happenings in the past, present and future of RIOT, as well as his side venture, WESTWORLD.

INTERVIEW BY MARKO SYRJÄLÄ AND JARNO HUOVILA

LIVE AND INTERVIEW PICTURES BY MARKO SYRJÄLÄ

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Riot Guitarist Flies Solo

Interviewed by Keith MacDonald

Most metal fans are well aware of the band Riot and all the accomplishments that they have had in their long career. Guitarist Mike Flyntz has decided to branch out on his own and has released a solo album with a little help from his friends now available through his website. Faith and Fire has been long in the works as Mike has been busy with the new release of Riot’s studio album as well as other projects. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Mike who gave me some insight into this new release.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mike Flyntz
Riot Guitarist Flies Solo

Most metal fans are well aware of the band Riot and all the accomplishments that they have met in their long career. Guitarist Mike Flyntz has decided to branch out on his own and has released a solo album with a little help from his friends now available through his website. Faith & Fire has been long in the works as Mike has been busy with the new release of Riot’s studio album as well as other projects. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Mike who gave me some insight into this new release.

Read the rest of this entry »