If you are like me, you are snowed in, and listening to lots of gloomy, dark, heavy, loud music to pass the time. May I humbly recommend you the newest edition to the W&M Loud Rock shelves, Royal Thunder's premier "Royal Thunder." Take one look at that album cover and you know you've found the soundtrack of the winter. Check out the dope song titles: "Sleeping Witch" "Grave Dance" "Mouth of Fire" are all apt descriptions for the sound presented by this up and coming band. Sharing the stage with acts ranging from the Woven Bones to Black Tusks, and fronted by female vocalist Miny Parsonz, who also plays bass, Royal Thunder sounds like if Siouxie Sioux took vocal duties for Mastodon and decided to make all the songs about Edgar Allan Poe short stories. Yeah, that awesome. When I saw them during CMJ, I didn't remember their name (a 12 pack of PBR and 2 rum and cokes will do that to you) but I certainly remember their sound. Miny's vocals are the beauty of my worst nightmares, their guitarist bares an eerie resemblance to my friend Bobby and can produce majestical down-toned gloom, and their drummer isn't afraid to use a gong, a trait I'd like to see in more drummers. The release is not very long, so listen to all of it, and check this band out live, they were the first opener in a long while that really impressed me.
