Royal Thunder

 

Their debut full length, 'CVI', is a weird one that starts disappointingly and ends in epic fashion!  It’s certainly an album of (almost) two halves, as the first four tracks seem to just meander along.  That’s not to say they are bad, there are some great moments and vocalist Miny Parsonz delivers her vocals with a ferocity that evokes images of early Suzi Quatro. On the other hand, there’s nothing really mind-blowing or stand-out, with some pretty drawn-out parts of the lengthier tunes feeling like they’re just thrown in for the sake it.  This first half of the record plays like a band seriously lacking in ideas but desperately trying to avoid using any hard rock clichés.  

 

Because of this, I almost wrote them off, until fifth track 'Blue' snaked in with its hypnotic bassline and firmly grabbed my attention.  The change is staggering!  The 6 tracks leading to the end of the album sound like they were written by a different band, with a sense of purpose and way more attitude suddenly appearing from nowhere.  Instantly the riffs get groovier, the mood gets creepier and the tunes get more intense.  

 

It’s like this was the point they stopped and picked up the bong.  Whereas the early tracks sound like a bad Sabbath cover-band, the second half feels like it was handed down by Iommi himself.   Other than the immense 'Blue', the main stand-out track is 'South Of Somewhere', which conjures images of satanic masses in the dankest moss-covered river forest you’ve ever seen (I don’t know if ‘river forests’ are real things, but if they are, they must be booked up for black masses until the end of the year).   'Black Water Vision' is also rather awesome, with layered guitars interweaving with the harmonised vocals; it’s total gold.

 

In fairness, all the tracks at the end are brilliant and would make for a great 6 track EP.  I reckon the album as a whole would have been greatly improved if they had spread out the filler tracks a bit better, instead of just firing them all the start.