Royal Thunder Rebuilding the Mountain

"Rebuilding the Mountain": Royal Thunder Faces New Heights (Interview)


Royal Thunder return with their first new album in over 6 years, the aptly-named Rebuilding The Mountain: the heavy rock album is a monolithic feat in and of itself considering it took almost 3 years to come to fruition. It feels like a more personal effort this time, heavily vocal-driven and packed with the band’s passion.

Three years after the end of the Wick tour cycle, the band held writing sessions for Rebuilding the Mountain, during which drummer Evan Diprima left and rejoined the band while guitarist and songwriter Josh Weaver and vocalist Mel Parsonz forged onward. As you can imagine, putting something so large together would take a Herculean effort given the hard stop the rest of the planet took in 2020.

I spoke to Parsonz about the physical distance which kept the band’s creative juices flowing, before having a true meeting in the same room. We talked about fear and procrastination that played a large role in her involvement with the new record. We also spoke about getting back on stage after 3 years, tour shenanigans, and what the future holds for the band, tour life and Rebuilding The Mountain as a whole.

Between Wick and Rebuilding the Mountain, how much time would you say had passed?

Mel Parsonz: 4 or 5 years? It feels like it’s been a minute with the Pandemic, what a trip. That made time real fucking weird. From the time Wick came out to the new recording sessions it had been 3 years. Evan left the band before the Pandemic and then we had several different drummers filling in before he came back at the beginning of the Pandemic and we began writing remotely for about a year and a half. Then we got into the room together for the first time after about 2 years. It took a lot to get in the same room together to lay down what we had been sending each other remotely. The next thing you know and we were in the studio.

The stories of Pandemic recording sessions have been pretty unique.

MP: Yeah. Josh and Evan were really good about getting on Logic and doing their parts and I was really bad at it. Really simple basslines and I really couldn’t get it together. It’s kind of tough to explain what was in my way. I think it was fear based, I was avoiding it and I heard the music they were sending me. If I get the bass done, then I was like to myself “What are you going to do vocally?” I don’t know who I am anymore, I don’t know if I can sing anymore. It’s all been gone. Fear is the basis of procrastination.

That’s so funny you mention the worry about the vocals because what I’ve noticed with Rebuilding the Mountain in particular is how vocally driven it is.

MP: I felt the same way, I think therein lies the challenge of it. I heard how different it was. I love the way Josh writes, he’s here because he’s meant to write music. I’ve been playing music with him for 20 years and I hadn’t heard this side of him before. It wasn’t so stripped down as to feel simplistic, almost like a less is more thing is happening. It was still complicated and evocative, it just had this unfamiliar feeling to it, maybe because he was in a different place in his life. None of that was intentional but it scared me because I am used to dancing behind the music. I was aware the vocals will have to carry a lot of this, I will play my guitar with my voice.

It certainly feels different than the previous 2 records, a lot more of you in this record than before.

MP: You always wonder with your art, “Will this mean anything?” Or will people “get it”. I keep hearing the latter and that makes me happy that it means something and does something for people. We are just being honest about who we are and putting that out there to share. I love what we are doing. I see it when I close my eyes, almost like a giant raindrop that plops down on us and the ringlets are how I see it hitting the listeners, it isn’t just for us in the band it’s for US.

I wonder what putting a setlist for a tour with this album would look like, seeing as you went on a brief tour early this year including a stop at Saint Vitus. Was that mostly new material?

MP: It was mostly the new album, which was kind of like taking a chance since no one had heard it. As far as going back to older stuff it will be tough to go about playing older stuff, maybe songs we haven’t done before like maybe “One Day” from Crooked Doors which is so tough to play.

I remember seeing you open for a 5-band bill with Enslaved closing and Ancient VVisdom.

MP: It was a cool tour that Enslaved was doing for Riitiir with Pallbearer too. Enslaved are hilarious, such dry humor, which felt like a sitcom, a Curb Your Enthusiasm for Vikings.

Royal Thunder 2023

What was it like to get back out on the road and play those shows in January?

MP: We played Atlanta, Vitus and Chicago. It was really cool to get out there and Atlanta sold out and the other 2 almost did too. We should just wait 3 years between every show, ha ha. We felt so supported and loved. It felt different and that sense of community and support changed a lot for the better. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.

I see you have a run of July dates coming up, what are your feeling about those?

MP: Royal Bliss and New Monarch feels like a bunch of new friendships will start. We easily connect with people and have these lifelong friends that are all over the US and Europe. We’ve met some pretty cool bands. I have a great feeling about July for that too. Josh’s girlfriend is going to tour manage for us and we have a great time. We play this game called statue where we just stand around and freeze and hold out for as long as we can, just dumb shit like that, being idiots.

Would it be fair to say there is a different feeling to writing and recording the music than how it comes about in a live setting?

MP: Once you write it and record it, it’s done. When you play it, every time is different and it gives the music space to grow. I want to see what that raindrop brings about. I am very open to see what happens. I am inspired and open to the people around me being inspired.

Is there anything else that you can think of that you would like to talk about?

MP: I’m just excited to discover this new chapter. It is new for all of us being sober, which is uncharted territory for us. I’m not fully connected with who I am as a sober musician, I was scared of it, but now I’m excited about it. I’m ready to discover myself and find another layer to work with and nurture it. Let it be what it’s going to be.

Rebuilding the Mountain releases June 16th via Spinefarm Records.