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Well, it was only a matter of time before stoner rock and sludge started melting together with death metal. After all, we're dealing with metal here, the most flexible and adaptable genre. Maybe it's also not a surprise that this very interesting mix of both genres has risen in Finland, arguably the most 'metal' country on earth. Once again, we're here to present a brutal steamroller, crushing everything in sight in a bit over twenty minutes.
Black Royal is a quartet dedicated to big riffs, gut-wrenching growls, beer and diesel and influenced by Lucifer and burning rubber. Their first effort, 'The Summoning Pt 1' contains six, mostly pretty slow but very effective songs that seem to be influenced by both stoner rock and death metal There are also some classic rock and even some progressive elements present. However, above all, this is excellent driving music, perfect for the open road.
One of the first (and only) bands that come to mind while listening to this e.p., is Entombed. I think that's mainly because of the extreme 'groove'-quality of the music. Another striking element is the perception that this e.p. seems to accelerate. Opener 'Black Royal' is a pretty slow, almost
stoner doom song while 'All Proved Stupidity' is uptempo, somewhere between groovy death metal and hardcore punk. Closer 'Reformation' is a whole lot slower again but in no way lacks power.
My favourite track is the heavy rocker 'Festering Truth', which drives on an awesome riff. This is one of the songs that would make a live audience go completely crazy. Everything about the music on this e.p. is perfectly suited for live performances by the way. I don't even know which element has the highest capacity of audience-entertainment, but the extremely high sing-along quality of some choruses definitely does.
Vocals are great on this album. The predominant old school gutteral growls sometimes alternate with clean vocals that remind me of some prog- or folk metal and even some punkrock bands like Pennywise. To make it even more complicated to classify this, Black Royal incorporates some keyboards here and there to add a dark atmosphere in the vein of some modern black metal bands.
With this e.p. Black Royal proves that sludge and stoner rock are already evolving into new combinations and new genres while still being very powerful and enjoyable. The Summoning Pt I is a lot better than I first expected, to be honest. These Fins might have found a way to stand out in the enormous pool of sludge bands these days and that is a very good thing. We're dealing with an excellent example of modern day rock 'n' effin' roll that has the power to entertain fans far and wide.
Serge
Black Royal is a quartet dedicated to big riffs, gut-wrenching growls, beer and diesel and influenced by Lucifer and burning rubber. Their first effort, 'The Summoning Pt 1' contains six, mostly pretty slow but very effective songs that seem to be influenced by both stoner rock and death metal There are also some classic rock and even some progressive elements present. However, above all, this is excellent driving music, perfect for the open road.
One of the first (and only) bands that come to mind while listening to this e.p., is Entombed. I think that's mainly because of the extreme 'groove'-quality of the music. Another striking element is the perception that this e.p. seems to accelerate. Opener 'Black Royal' is a pretty slow, almost
stoner doom song while 'All Proved Stupidity' is uptempo, somewhere between groovy death metal and hardcore punk. Closer 'Reformation' is a whole lot slower again but in no way lacks power.
My favourite track is the heavy rocker 'Festering Truth', which drives on an awesome riff. This is one of the songs that would make a live audience go completely crazy. Everything about the music on this e.p. is perfectly suited for live performances by the way. I don't even know which element has the highest capacity of audience-entertainment, but the extremely high sing-along quality of some choruses definitely does.
Vocals are great on this album. The predominant old school gutteral growls sometimes alternate with clean vocals that remind me of some prog- or folk metal and even some punkrock bands like Pennywise. To make it even more complicated to classify this, Black Royal incorporates some keyboards here and there to add a dark atmosphere in the vein of some modern black metal bands.
With this e.p. Black Royal proves that sludge and stoner rock are already evolving into new combinations and new genres while still being very powerful and enjoyable. The Summoning Pt I is a lot better than I first expected, to be honest. These Fins might have found a way to stand out in the enormous pool of sludge bands these days and that is a very good thing. We're dealing with an excellent example of modern day rock 'n' effin' roll that has the power to entertain fans far and wide.
Serge
