Royal Thunder – Rebuilding The Mountain

 

 

Royal Thunder – Rebuilding The Mountain
Spinefarm Records – 2023
Rock, Stoner, Seventies, Psych, Hard, Prog
Rated: *****

We never neglected to mention a new release by Royal Thunder. Which is perfectly logical, since we absolutely adore their sound and love almost everything they put out. (They even reached the Number Eight spot of the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2012 according to your votes with CVI and Number Twenty with Wick in 2017.) And their brand-new album Rebuilding The Mountain cements that devotion even further. The Royal Thunder comes in three-form nowadays, drummer Evan Diprima who left on good terms back in 2018, returned a few years later because he could not live without the band, just like the rest of us. But guitar player Will Fiore has left. So, Diprima, together with guitarist Josh Weaver and bassist and highly recognizable vocalist Mlny Parsonz, went forth to rebuild their sound by creating their new ten track album Rebuilding The Mountain. It’s their fourth official full-sized album and it’s a way for them to not only rebuild the band but rebuild their life as well. All three of them suffered from seeing their life spiral out of control and fall apart, in their own various ways. But the three have found each other and what they can do together again, and these forty minutes of pristine heavy rock is a testament to that fact. Royal Thunder means earthshattering power, lightning strikes of wild energy and a pure untamable life force. But it also means grace, elegance, and poise. And the way the three manage to use all these aspects in a perfectly balanced way, is what makes Royal Thunder so very special. That, and of course that amazing voice of Mlny Parsonz. A throat grabbing, raw, bluesy, electrifying, and soulful voice that manages to convey whatever emotion it wants as well as making concrete walls extend outwards with pure force. Mlny Parsonz, seems to be able to do it all and does it with a distinct and very own color in her voice. Even though a lot was written during the pandemic, sending each other part by part, it was recorded live in the studio. The forty minutes speed by, even though most of the record is delivered in a mid-tempo romp. Simply due to the fact that all tracks have this special something to them, that gives them their own identity, while keeping the entire record going in the same color and character. Drag Me opens the ball, with the slow build up at first, a gradual build up follows and then moves to a faster later half, showing off a lot of what they distill during the course of the following tracks. The way this opener works towards the climax, so poised and nuanced, is brilliance put to music. It’s the first of ten tracks, all of which have this uncanny ability to make you feel like you are disappearing into them, lyrics filled with wonderment, desire, pain, and lost calls for help. Live To Live, opening with beautiful almost serene guitar work, followed by an amazing solo by Weaver later on, and what sounds like a ventilator slowly dispelling the air around the notes. And once again, that voice, steering ever more towards this crystal clear and restrained vocalization as the track goes on and winds down. Showing off she does not scare away from using that more fragile side of hers now. Which is another thing the other two seems to excel at, this time around as well; for the grace and elegance portrait by both drums and guitar; often shows this more daring less is more approach. Where earlier songs used to display the more is more attitude. And this is more Royal Thunder whatever way you choose to look at it. We had to wait six years for this and perhaps they all had to go through all that hardship and tribulation they had to go through, perhaps showing once again that sometimes pain and strife is needed to get those diamonds out, that those trials pressurize into amazing art. Rebuilding The Mountain, sounds like a trio that is committed to reaching the summit…    

(Written by JK)

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Whiskey Myers – Whiskey Myers

Whiskey Myers – Whiskey Myers

Universal/Spinefarm – 2019

Rock, Americana, Country, Blues, Southern

Rated: ****

Six-piece outfit Whiskey Myers sounds like the outlaws from the American badlands we all love. One can immediately and very easily assume this looking through the song titles. And as soon as the music starts; you know you were right. It’s their fifth album and by God, have these good ol’ boys been crafting their skills to an unholy degree. Filled to the rim with the very best of everything that those southern American states have to offer. Hard rock with a country twang! Swampy rock, roots rock, smoky tunes, soulful tunes! They’ve got it all. And to show you that these cats can do so much they also go into the sentimental regions. And when a band like this goes into the tear jerk territory it might make you cringe, not so when Whiskey Myers does it! You intentionally go back to those and even more so to all those tracks featuring the female background choirs. Holy hell! Just go enjoy the big gesture track Glitter Ain’t Gold and hear what we mean. Indeed, if you didn’t already wanted to leave the city, this album will definitely make you want to move out to the country… Buy a farm… Poor a bourbon, practice the pedal steel and howl at the moon…

(Written by JK)

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Airbourne – Boneshaker

Airbourne – Boneshaker

Spinefarm – 2019

Rock, Hardrock, Pubrock

Rated: ****

We mentioned it before when we mentioned Airbourne. We had a great interview with Joel and Ryan many years ago which almost made them travel south because Rhino Bucket was playing my hometown. That was many many moons ago and to this day Airbourne still sounds like that day and still sounds like everything great about Aussie Pub Rock and still sounds like,  yes, ACDC… But they reference the band themselves, cause it is the best way to explain what kind of music they make. Cause The Angels, Rose Tattoo and Billy Thorpe are just not that well known outside the big continent island… Are the boys approaching perfection with their fifth studio album Boneshaker? Hell no, and that’s just the way we like it. Ten tracks filled to the absolute max with pure and unadulterated hardrock. It is once again highly energetic, thanks to those ballsy riffs, stampeding drums and scream along choruses. And all that in only half an hour! A few brilliant moments with anthems like Burnout The Nitro or Sex To go and a very warm, live sounding sound. Sweet stuff! And come on, there are always those late night drives or parties that are dying down that could use a big kick in the balls! And what better way to do that then to soundtrack the night away with Airbourne…

(Written by JK)

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Baroness – Gold & Grey

Baroness – Gold & Grey

Spinefarm/Abraxan Hymns – 2019

Rock

Rated: ***

We continue along the kaleidoscopic Baroness journey that begun so many years ago with that magical Red album. Apparently the new Gold & Grey album was supposed to be called Orange, but he wasn’t feeling that color. And yes, Gold & Grey does alliterate nicely, so I guess we can agree with the decision. And shit, we have no say in that matter anyway… We were already jotting down these few lines about the new Baroness record when Madman Tony Maim sent in his screed about Gold & Grey and we of course stopped writing immediately, cause why do another mention about the same album. There is so much other great music out there and so little time. But even though I agree with his rant, I missed something. Something I felt needed to be said. Gold & Grey feels like a continuation from Yellow & Green. Where the experimental side was perhaps bigger but the amount of different approaches to the tracks smaller. Influences are still too many to name and the dynamics are even grander. We even get an acoustic treatment and female vocals in the form of new guitarist Gina Gleason. And the feeling we are listening to one big work of art is even more present due to all the bridges and themes connection the songs. But it still could not grab me initially, it took some time, and the reason behind that fact, I fear, was the way the mix and production feels. And that feeling has not left me, even though the album has become a favorite, a record one can spin at all kinds of different moments, there is something amiss with the mix. The tracks and compositions have this fragile edge to it, while the mix goes through the ceiling in loudness and fullness, leaving no room for the instruments to move or the compositions to breathe. It is a strange feeling to listen to an album and wanting to love it so much but feel like it is a lot of work to do so. I would give a lot for a new version of this record, but shit, we have no say in that matter…

(Written by JK)

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Ghost – Prequelle

Ghost – Prequelle

Caroline/Spinefarm/Loma Vista – 2018

Rock, Metal, Pop, Theatrical, Occult

Rated: ***

As we return to the fold after the Graspop Metal Meeting Festival, we went back to one of the mentions we wrote before we left but had not posted yet. The few words below are still how I feel about the album, but the live show has become a different sort of thing. It’s not that fun anymore when you started out making fun of the band; but now the band parodies itself. Ghost on Roadburn was weird, the way they looked did not match up with the sound. And every show afterwards, the steadily grew better into their pop musical future. Until the decline started. On Graspop the new Cardinal Copia character has turned into more of an Inspector Clouseau, who makes lame jokes and sings horribly. Which might be due to the new mask and getting used to it or something. But still. We now not just hope for something a bit more Satanic next time around, we hope for a new Pope! And quickly! 

As you all might know, we’ve been following Ghost since we were confronted with them on Roadburn 2011 and we predicted the Popestar album back in 2013. Since then much has changed in the Ghost realm. But not for their music! Of course, everyone now knows (thanks to lawsuits and a few journalists who wouldn’t play the game) who is behind the Ghost project and that it is basically a one-man project. And that he longs to translate his love for the seventies approach that Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult had into whatever pop song magic Abba was able to tap into. We have been hearing Ghost do this on every album; and every one of those records has worked well. To a bigger or lesser degree. Well, Prequelle is no different. And therein perhaps lies the rub, the more of the same feeling and the lack of real progress. Or perhaps not, for when a track like Witch Image comes along, you cannot stand idly by. You will have to chant along and smile your lovely evil smile! There are few more of those damn catchy moments, but perhaps not quite enough. And yes, there it is, It’s A Sin! It was only logical that this would be recorded. Logical. Expected. Perhaps we would should start an incantation hymn for something a bit more Satanic next time around…

(Written by JK)

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Orange Goblin – The Wolf Bites Back

Orange Goblin – The Wolf Bites Back
Spinefarm/Candlelight
Rock, Metal, Stoner
Rated: ****

It is record number nine and we still turn completely giddy when we first spin a new Orange Goblin record. Even though the band has been steadily releasing records that profess their undying servitude to the sloppy meat and rich gravy side of stoner metal, they have also incorporated something different every time around. Maybe not as much every time around, but always a little hint of this or that to keeps things, interesting, enticing and spicy! Well, The Wolf Bites Back might be there most diverse album to date. Experiments with blues, hardcore and prog are embraced while the doom and stoner metal command attention. And songs like In Bocca Al Lupo or The Stranger are definitely what set The Wolf Bites Back apart from the records that came before. It’s Orange Goblin alright, but almost invigorating and shiny! Add to this that Motörhead’s Phil Campbell adds a bit of his sauce to mix and you are hearing an Orange Goblin record that stands tall when looking at the records that came before. And there aren’t that many bands that we can honestly state about that the haven’t released a bad record yet and their last one might actually really be their best…

(Written by JK)

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Electric Wizard – Wizard Bloody Wizard

Electric Wizard – Wizard Bloody Wizard

Spinefarm Records – 2017

Doooooom

Rated: ?????

Earlier this year, At The Drive-In released an album after a 17-year break between recording. I liked it a lot but reading some of the comments about “in•ter a•li•a”, you would think that ATDI had committed genocide and pissed on the remains. Arguably their break through record, “Relationship Of Command” was lauded as a post-punk masterpiece – rightly or wrongly, and created a fanatical and rabid fanbase to whom “ROC” was the best album ever made. I base any review on how it compares to Black Flags “My War”. It was not as good but still a great listen. Because I am so fucking old, I am not going to have any albums coming along that will change my life anymore … kinda sad, but true. I have had my mind blown by hearing The Stooges, Pistols, Clash, Motorhead, AC/DC, Killing Joke etc. But for a lot of younger people, maybe “ROC” was their first defining album they had experienced and anything less than that will never meet their expectations. And so, to Electric Wizard (about time I hear you mutter). “Dopethrone” was a huge milestone for people and became THE album that defined a movement. Did it change my life? No – it was not as good as “My War” … But it did open up a world of heaviness that I had somehow missed out on until then. And that may be the problem for EW. Always being judged on an album way back in their past. Never living up to expectations. Wanting to grow as a band and not just record “Dopethrone” over and over again. “Wizard Bloody Wizard” is a riff heavy beast with fuzzed solos, proto-metal blues and tighter song structures. I like it. It also has a similar feel and sound to many other albums out at the moment. Albums that have clearly used EW as a template. Bands that have plundered the EW ethos and made their own sound. Leaving any new offering by EW not as “special” as “Dopethrone”. I cannot score this out of five because my critical opinion may differ widely from anyone else depending on how much earlier EW stuff has “changed” your life. This time dear readers, you and only you will have to be the judge and jury. May the Dark Lord guide you wisely!

(Written by Tony Maim)

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