25 Days Of Metal 2012: #7 Royal Thunder – CVI

December 19th, 2012

Jordan Munson

Rather than counting down the days until we can celebrate Christmas, this year we’re bringing you a series of metal posts will be celebrating the countdown until we don’t have to be inundated with Christmas music and decorations everywhere. To coincide with this countdown we’ll be posting our top 25 metal (and metal-ish) albums of 2012. 25 days of hell, 25 rad metal albums to make up for it.

Coming straight from the heart of where some of the best sludge and stoner metal was born (Georgia), Royal Thunder have laid their cards down on the table with quite a winning hand. Comprised of Mlny Parsonz (vocals/bass), Josh Weaver (guitar), Josh Coleman (guitar) and Evan Diprima (Jesse Stuber at the time of recording, drums), Royal Thunder churned out a southern-fried, stoner metal, classic rock slow-burner in CVI. Telling stories about many deeply personal experiences through Mlny’s raspy howl alongside the Joshs dueling guitar lines, Royal Thunder take songs that could be massive arena rock songs and applies a heavy stoner metal treatment to them, leaving the listener with a collection of big, powerful, gripping songs. With a clear penchant for catchy hooks, Royal Thunder have no trouble writing insidious, memorable songs like “Whispering World” in which just about every vocal line feels like a hook. With an average song length of about six minutes, though, the songs on CVI often feel more like long stoner jaunts than simple pop songs, adding yet another unique dimension to Royal Thunder’s offering. They might share a number of similarities with the new breed of stoner-leaning metal bands but there isn’t another band out there just like them. CVI is, from top to bottom, an interesting and engaging listen that shouldn’t be missed.