There seems to be a growing interest, as well as push among underground artists, to bring back a classic Hard Rock and Psychadelic Rock sound in the musical world, and it appears that, every day, it picks up more steam as time goes on. Royal Thunder is yet another entry into this musical world that captures a Psychadelic Hard Rock vibe, but manages to include a lighter Sludge Rock sound within it for their debut EP, Royal Thunder. While not an all-too-shocking release under Relapse Records, it seems this underground Rock community is being picked up on by the Metal community more with each new release, and with good reason given the heritages of many of these bands being linked to acts that inspired many of today's Metal acts. But, is Royal Thunder going to be a release that genuinely will captivate all audiences, or even the audience it is intended for?
Like something out of a sixties or seventies film, Royal Thunder bring a casual Rock sound with a slight Sludge feel to the composition, and an edgy-sounding female vocalist to weave an interesting EP of rather dark Psychadelic Rock in a raw, monotone-sounding quality. At first, the recording may not seem like anything major, but the band manages to capture that aforementioned time perid well within this recording, creating captivating yet Dark Rock music with a very Soul-driven vocalist that has that slight kick to her voice that suits the music. Much of the material on this release comes off as a rather casual experience, such as with much of "Low", though the song does pick up about half way through, and even then it's nothing all that heavy or hard hitting, and eventually returns to the slower, psychadelic sound that started the track.
Of course, while some of the songs are very well done, the band can go a little too far with the laid back psychadelic sound. "Sleeping Witch" is not exactly a bad song, but the track is so very laid back, holding a heavy stoner trait to the music while keeping it dark and more along the lines of an occult-related track to make it stand out. Of course, due to all this, the track feels very restrained, and outside of the chorus, it's very simple and doesnm't offer much to the listener, and very quickly feel like it's being drawn out. By the time you hit three minutes in, you'll be ready to call it a day with this song, but you still have another three minutes with it, and it eventually becomes a struggle to make it through, especially after the first time with this song. The same goes for "Hotel Bend", another track that feels longer it should be, and doesn't necessarily have much to progress the song along. While it's not as drawn out as "Sleeping Witch" is, and is actually a little more enjoyable, it's far from one of this EP's stronger tracks, and will quickly become a track you skip over on future spins.
Royal Thunder is not a booming Psychadelic Sludge-soacked Rock romper, but for what it is, it does it's job well. Many of the tracks on here have a subtle execution that focuses on creating a dark, often nightmarish atmosphere in the vein of classic Psychadelic Rock acts, essentially paying tribute to them, while expanding on their original presence. Some tracks take the mellow presentation a little too far and seem to drone on forever, which does wind up hurting the release since it's always the longer songs, but if you're looking for something to just kick back to, perhaps have a smoke of whatever it is you smoke, or crack open a beer to unwind, then this album will set the perfect atmosphere for you. But, even then some of the material can feel a little dull and over extended, leaving some tracks to become torturous, or simply skipped over. Royal Thunder is an act with plenty of promise, but Royal Thunder, their debut EP, shows that the group still has a little more progress to make in the composition of their material.
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