Label: Relapse Records
Review by Warren Mayocchi
Royal Thunder have let our ears tune into what seem like songs of personal and emotional experiences. Looking through the lyrics and attempting to choose a theme, I will go with – freedom. There are many ways that a person may enter a crucible, however on exit there can be a few emotions, but a common one would have to be a sense of relief at having survived the experience and being free to live again. MLny Parsonz, Josh Weaver, Evan Diprima and Will Fiore show us emotions from the crucible and then the poignant relief of survival. The band is very competent, they will be a powerful force on stage, but the highlight for me is the voice of MLny Parsonz.
On “Crooked Doors” the band provide several musical styles, I would say that they generally have an alt rock sound. The “Bear II” is backed by a keyboard and cello, all other songs by drums and guitars. The vocal style of Mlny sits directly in the hard rock genre – it is a good contrast. The emotional impact of the album has to be due to her raw and bleeding voice. Mlny sings with passion and she convinces you that she has deep personal experience in the lyric that is being sung. “Time Machine” is a reasonable indication of what you can expect on the album and has an accompanying music video. I love the heavier menace that the band gives us on “The Line” and “Forget You”. Also great is the interaction between the band and vocal on “One Day” and “Forgive Me, Karma” – there are several different moods in those songs, the entire band has to work hard to pull these songs off as well as they have.
On “Crooked Doors” Royal Thunder take on heavy rock, soulful pauses, and moves to quieter material all while conveying that they have lived the song before performing it for us. This album is well worth the price of admission, and sounds great regardless of whether you become involved with the lyrical content.
Rating – 84/100
Tracklist
- Time Machine
- Forget You
- Wake Up
- Floor
- The Line
- Forgive Me, Karma
- Glow
- Ear on the Fool
- One Day
- The Bear I
- The Bear II
Line Up
- MLny Parsonz – Bass/Vocals
- Josh Weaver – Guitar
- Will Fiore – Guitar
- Evan Diprima – Drums