Album Review: "Wick" by Royal Thunder

I had never heard of Royal Thunder until a couple of years ago when I had the opportunity to see them as the opening act for The Sword.  The outstanding feature of this performance was Mlny Parsonz’s haunting, angst filled vocals, which straddled the line between being sung and being shouted, but always in perfect key, and always with the gravitas of a tortured soul.  

I resolved at the time to investigate Royal Thunder further.  Tragically, by the time headliners The Sword had finished pummeling my brain with an onslaught of mighty riffs the openers had slipped my mind.  I failed to give them the attention they had earned.  When I saw the promotion for their latest album WICK hit my in-box, I was grateful for the chance to remedy this oversight. 

The band has made a point of noting this album is somewhat of a departure from their previous offerings, but it certainly reminds me of everything I liked about their live set.  Moody, dark and rumbling guitar tones, hypnotic drum beats and Parsonz’s spooky vocals.

Concert Photos: Royal Thunder and The Sword at the Ready Room in St. Louis, December 13, 2015 - photos by Danny Nichols

Miny Parsonz of Royal Thunder rocks the Ready Room in St. Louis

Album Review: "CVI" by Royal Thunder

Recently Guitar World did an article on the Atlanta band, Royal Thunder. For some reason this particular article really spoke to me. This was an album that had to be in my library, but for weeks this album languished on an Amazon wishlist.

It was finally purchased and it has arrived. So far, it has received about four or five spins in the car. There were no previews of songs played before this album was purchased. Rarely is this the case. The idea of not knowing is very concerning to me, but as nowadays, music is coming to my house on a much more regular basis, it could be supposed that a stinker here and there might not be such a bad thing.

This band is compared favorably to bands like Baroness and this is a very fair comparison. Both bands are some times heavy, sometimes long winded, and very focused on the groove.