. . .
Royal Thunder’s “Blue” stands out as one of the more important songs on CVI—It’s long, comes at around the album’s midpoint, and frequently ends Royal Thunder’s sets—and why shouldn’t it? Mlny’s vocals expand from delicate to bellowing while the music backing her expands from drumrolls and nimble bass fills into a big riff cascade at its climax. Royal Thunder further stressed “Blue” today by releasing a full-length music video for the track.
. . .
Royal Thunder – “Blue”
. . .
It’s a tone-piece about the meeting grounds—between woods and sky, food and drink, land and sea, and of course between people. The video’s plot centers around an encounter between two women—one in black, the other white—wearing mirrored masks. The nature of their relationship is unclear, is it sexual? Antagonistic? Or perhaps occult—a ceremony of opposites. Don’t look to the video for answers, but enjoy the steadily mounting tension and impressionistic, pastel color palate.
Although the song “Blue” feels like a huge cathartic moment, it’s video stays low-key. The camera is seldom steady, and often a little out-of focus. It feels like a shoegaze video, something Alcest would do. And for a song called “Blue,” the images are pretty green; you don’t really get to see the color itself until the song reaches its apex and the scenery changes.
Royal Thunder will hit the road late this month with Enslaved, Pallbearer, and Ancient VVisdom, on what promises to be one of this winter season’s big tours. Rest assured, I will be at the Detroit show come hell or high water. I’d expect them to play “Blue” on at least a couple of these dates.
- Joseph Schafer
. . .
ENSLAVED, ROYAL THUNDER, PALLBEARER, ANCIENT VVISDOM – 2013 TOUR DATES
Jan. 30 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
Jan. 31 Baltimore, MD Ottobar
Feb. 1 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Small’s Theatre
Feb. 2 Detroit, MI The Magic Stick
Feb. 3 Chicago, IL Reggie’s Rock Club
Feb. 4 Minneapolis, MN Mill City Nights
Feb. 6 Denver, CO Marquis Theatre
Feb. 8 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour
Feb. 9 San Francisco, CA Slim’s
Feb. 10 Portland, OR Branx
Feb. 11 Seattle, WA Highline Bar
Feb. 12 Vancouver, BC Biltmore Cabaret
Feb. 14 Edmonton, AB Pawn Shop
Feb. 15 Calgary, AB Dickens Pub
Feb. 16 Regina, SK The Exchange
Feb. 17 Winnipeg, MB The Osborne Village Inn
Feb. 19 Toronto, ON Opera House
Feb. 20 Montreal, QC Les Foufounes Electriques
Feb. 21 Boston, MA The Sinclair
Feb. 22 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
her vocals are way too heavily protooled and autotuned, kicking the shit out of any potential credibility that may have feebly crept up on them before the festering hype parade jumped on em like syphilis!!
all i hear is worship about this band, just my 2 scents.
looking forward to pallbearer, however.
you seem very concerned about hype.
What? Check this full set out, obviously not protooled and autotuned: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVYKhhhEaQI
Guess you’ve never seen em live.
REALLY looking forward to seeing them and Pallbearer next month.
I’m a little disappointed to see them added to this line up as it means less time for the three other bands…
They’re at least playing with the right types of bands and not the Polyphonic Sphree/Spree.
These dudes rip it live. Even in an afternoon showcase environment–where I first saw them have the misfortune to play an eye-watering 1 pm slot–they bring the… thunder. A second live performance (at a normal hour) was a thousand times better.
Lotsa drum rolls before the good part kicks in. It was probably worth the wait tho. The first minute or so reminded me of vintage 80’s goth.
Why is Royal Thunder playing Bonaroo this year? Its not even a metal festival.
Sharing the stage with indie and techno junk along with the hipster Coachella girls gone wild don’t wear a bikini top cause you’re too ugly and guys who want to get drunk and could give less shit who’s playing on stage.