Blues-based hard rock never went away, but does seem to have been enjoying a real renaissance in recent years, with the success of bands like Rival Sons showing that there’s a real appetite for good-quality, authentic, old-school rock. Bu then, these guys have been going for the best part of a decade now, so they were either way ahead of trend or way behind. Whatever, what goes around comes around, and their third album packs plenty of beef. ‘Royale’ pounds its way from the speakers, marking the first in a succession of solid, chunky riffs. Wah-wah out for the solo, it’s got guts, it’s got nuts.
I could make a Zed Lepellin quip here, or note the way ‘Today Not Tomorrow’ leans on Sabbath’s ‘Supernaut’, and the fact is it’s abundantly clear that these guys have a deep love of classic rock. But this isn’t a band going through the motions to recreate the vintage vibe: ‘Trouble in Eden’ is brimming with conviction and dripping with the sweat of hard axe-lugging labour.
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There’s no denying appeal of the slow-burning throb of the title track, another example of heads-down no-nonsense riffing. When they slow it down, as they do on ‘The Only True Thing,’ they don’t ease off on the volume or the swagger one iota.
Zed Online
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