Royal Thunder- "Crooked Doors"

   
    Now, a review for one Relapse Record’s finest up and coming rock groups, Royal Thunder. The Atlanta, GA based band return with their sophomore album, “Crooked Doors.” As if people can’t stop listening to their debut release, “CVI,” the band has found another way to keep fans glued to their speakers.
    “Crooked Doors,” demonstrates Royal Thunder’s great song writing abilities and amazing musicianship. The production value along with the different guitar sounds captured throughout this album, have an unbelievably unique and distinct sound. Also, singer/bassist Miny Parsonz, has a voice that can captivate listeners while drawing them into this pleasant dark world that delivers such great raw emotion.
    The first song, “Time Machine,” is a perfect introduction for anyone who may have not heard of this band before. At first the band constructs this mellow psychedelic atmosphere and becomes heavier when Miny’s deliver becomes more aggressive. The song is a journey through a whole diverse canyon of sounds and the quality of the recording does the track so much justice.
    Track number two, “Forget You,” begins with a short burst of feedback and then explodes into a hard hitting doom rock riff. The guitar tone is bold and unapologetic just like the lyrics of the song. The follow up song, “Wake Up,” starts off a lot different and takes on this psychedelic vibe. Each note rings out over Miny’s voice with perfect pitch and mind numbing tone.
    Songs like “Floor” and “The Line” have a classic hard hitting sound. I really like the song, “The Line.” The lyrics are constructed in this extremely powerful manner. One verse that stood out is, “Throw your best friend into the fire and then spit them into the grave.” The way that she says those lines with such furious emotion is utterly amazing.
    “Forgive Me, Karma,” is a bit slower, but progresses with a variety of different compositions. I really liked how the guitars were recorded and the guitar effect used for the introduction riff is very calming. Track number seven, “Glow,” has this mix of blues and psychedelic rock, and is an overall decent sounding track. “Ear of the Fool,” is another well written piece of music. From the drums to the guitar chords used, there is a sense of unity and every sound works to form one strong musical entity.
    The track, “One Day,” continues the more solemn sounding hard rock approach. For me the guitar solo on, “One Day,” is full of great emotion when the notes ring out as guitarist Josh Weaver glides through the scale. The final two tracks, “Bear I” and “Bear II,” were a bit of a surprise, however, they were a creative way to end this album. The tempo is drastically slowed down and the band seems to fade away. “Bear II” features a piano piece that gives the song a pleasant sound and helps wrap up the diverse psychedelic doom rock journey.
    This album was definitely an enjoyable listen and full of many different great hard rock songwriting writing examples. The music has raw emotion, a quality that you do not get most often these days. I think this band as a whole has great chemistry and the album’s overall sound speaks for itself. “Crooked Doors,” is a must listen for fans of creative rock music that does not fail to capture your imagination.