ROYAL THUNDER — CVI (review)

ROYAL THUNDER — CVI album cover Album · 2012 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Time Signature
Parsonz' voice...

Genre: doom/sludge rock

A lot of hard rock is admittedly uplifting and all about fun and good times – and nothing wrong with that – but every now and then a hard rock band comes by and reminds us that this genre can indeed be a vehicle of expression of darker emotions. Royal Thunder is one of those bands, and in CVI they have created an authentic piece of heavy and dark southern hard rock.

On this album, Royal Thunder play dark hard rock with a certain retrospective feel to it, looking back to the psychedelia of the '70s, but without all the flower power. It is more like doom power. The tracks on the album are, you see, generally quite heavy, at times nearing doom metal tempos, and consistently having a sludgy touch to them, drawing primarily on crushing old school heavy rock riff. I guess that doom rock or sludge rock would be a suitable description for the dark and heavy hard rock on the album. Tracks like 'Parsonz Curse', 'South of Somewhere', 'Drown', and 'Blackwater Vision' are oozing with doom-laden darkness, and 'Sleeping Witch' is a wonderfully heavy and dark blues song with references to the mighty Black Sabbath, while 'No Good' is a groovy hard rocker full of whiskey-induced swagger and trippy aggression. This is not to say that CVI is completely void of melody, but just that heaviness is in focus. Check for instance 'Shake and Shift' or 'Blue' for a sample of Royal Thunder's approach to melody.

With a touch of psychedelia and songs often clocking in at seven, eight, and nine minutes, CVI definitely also has a progressive touch to it, and there are also sections that remind me of the introvert alternative rock and alternative metal of the 1990s. On top of that, the album is full of hard rocking swagger and southern grooves. The musicianship is impeccable, and the heavy drumbeats and bluesy guitar figures go hand in hand with Miny Parsonz' powerful and raw vocals.

Simply a near-masterpiece of southern darkness, CVI should appeal to fans of doom metal, sludge metal, southern rock, psychedelic rock, alternative rock/metal and dark and heavy blues-rock along the lines of Dickie Peterson's Child of Darkness. Do not hesitate to buy this album and immerse yourself in the darkness of its heavy grooves and long songs.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed