New QUIET RIOT Singer JAMES DURBIN Says 'Road Rage' Is Shaping Up To Be An 'Extremely Kick-Ass' Album

QUIET RIOT announced last month that it would delay the release of its new album, "Road Rage", until this summer so that the band's seventh lead singer, "American Idol" finalist James Durbin, could replace all the vocals on the album with new lyrics and melodies.

Durbin, who became known as the "metal guy" on 2011's season of "American Idol" after performing "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking The Law" with JUDAS PRIEST, joined QUIET RIOT in March after the dismissal of Seann Nicols (a.k.a. Sheldon Tarsha; formerly of ADLER'S APPETITE). Nicols was with QUIET RIOT for just a few months, but long enough to record the vocals for an early version of "Road Rage".

In a new interview with RockRevolt, Durbin talked about the progress of the writing sessions for "Road Rage". He said: "I've written five songs and have another five to go. The rest of the album is already recorded or is having final touches being put on. So for the convince factor, I will be recording my vocal tracks here in Santa Cruz where I did my last album, 'Riot On Sunset'. So that's really cool for me as well as my engineer, who is very very excited to be working on this. His name is Rick Riviera, and he is the owner of Rocker Studios in Santa Cruz. It's very cool that someone I started working with last year I've developed a great friendship with. So it's great to bring him on to this project when he helped me out so much with mine."

He continued: "I'm excited because not only do I get to be a part of the 'Road Rage' album but the first official QUIET RIOT album release in ten years of new material since the passing of the late great Kevin DuBrow… But I'm definitely up for it. I've pulled the sword from the stone, so it's my duty to deliver. And so far, the first five songs that we've written for 'Road Rage' are extremely kick-ass, and they embody that QUIET RIOT spirit and that energy. There's just some great vibes on this album so far."

Durbin, who made his live debut with QUIET RIOT on March 18 at The Cotillion in Wichita, Kansas, said that there was "a real intense energy" during his first rehearsals with the band. "It felt special: right, and honest," he explained. "It didn't feel forced. The sound that was coming out was exactly the same."

Banali revived QUIET RIOT in 2010, three years after DuBrow's death, along with Grossi and Wright. The group went through two vocalists — Mark Huff and Scott Vokoun — before settling on Jizzy Pearl in 2013. Pearl announced his exit from QUIET RIOT last October.