By Andrew Bansal
Atlanta, Georgia’s Royal Thunder released their debut full-length ‘CVI’ in 2012, an album that can be truly hailed as one of the most beautiful efforts in psychedelic hard rock to have surfaced in recent history. In the three years that followed, the band toured endlessly to present these tunes on stages worldwide, but somewhere during that period, found the time and inclination for further creativity which has resulted in a new album called ‘Crooked Doors’, released in April 2015 via Relapse Records. For listeners that found themselves captivated by ‘CVI’, it was hard to detach from that album and give ‘Crooked Doors’ a fair chance, but Royal Thunder’s newest creation has finally sinked in.
The combination of singer/bassist Mlny Parsonz’ voice and the instrumentation by herself and her band mates is nothing short of spine-chilling on ‘CVI’. Royal Thunder attempts to achieve the same result on ‘Crooked Doors’ but through a varied approach and an evolved musical style. As is evident from the opening tunes ‘Time Machine’, ‘Forget You’ and ‘Wake Up’, there is greater focus on melody, and on utilizing the singing voice to the maximum. That being said, the instrumental mastery is still present and is skillfully intertwined with the ever-changing textures of Parsonz’ voice. For old-fashioned music listeners that like to absorb entire albums as opposed to singles, these first three tracks are crucial in convincing one to continue listening, and the sonic traits exhibited on them are certainly carried with much conviction through the entirety of the 11-track effort.
The meat of Crooked Doors comprises compelling tunes ‘Floor’, ‘The Line’ and ‘Glow’, while ‘Forgive Me, Karma’, ‘Ear On The Fool’ and ‘One Day’ showcase some of the finest guitar work on the album, and it all comes to a somber end with ‘The Bear’ parts 1 and 2. Crooked Doors on the whole is catchier and more vocal-oriented than CVI, but is simultaneously also a much darker, emotional and thought-provoking effort. It’s as much Fleetwood Mac as it is Led Zeppelin. The blend of these characteristics should bring greater commercial success for Royal Thunder in the upcoming phase of their career, but for the most part, does not alienate fans of their past work.
Crooked Doors sees Royal Thunder take a positive evolutionary step while still staying firmly planted in their musical roots.
Rating: 8.5/10
Record Label: Relapse
Release Date: April 7th 2015
Track Listing:
01. Time Machine
02. Forget You
03. Wake Up
04. Floor
05. The Line
06. Forgive Me, Karma
07. Glow
08. Ear On The Fool
09. One Day
10. The Bear I
11. The Bear II
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