BLACK ROYAL

Following the success of their sophomore album Firebride in 2020, Finnish sludge metal savants BLACK ROYAL emerged as one of the Scandinavian underground’s most talked about bands.

Formed in 2013 in Tampere, Finland, Black Royal’s infectious brew of metal has garnered praise from the likes of Metal Injection, MetalSucks and CVLT Nation, while drawing hordes of followers with their creed crushing choruses and beguiling riffs, pitched perfectly between the dramaturgy of Ghost and brutality of Behemoth.

This month, the band make an almighty return to the fold. Newly signed to M-Theory Audio, Earthbound, the band’s third full-length album will be released later this year, but you can experience the fire and fury it’s title-track right here.

“What started out as more of a tribute to one of our favourite bands, Crowbar, quickly took a turn into something with a slightly more epic direction,” explains the band. “The lyrical story line was inspired by the ancient Scandinavian/Sami myths of the netherworld. Stories of things like ‘northern fire beliefs and the aurora borealis, which have long been associated with perceptions of the afterlife.”

Written and recorded at Studio Watercastle in August 2021, mixed by Oskari Hakala Rahko and mastered by Jaakko Viitalähde (Convulse, Oranssi Pazuzu, Dark Buddha Rising), Earthbound will deliver the band’s heaviest collection of lurching sludge and groove-laden death metal songs yet. Packed with thunderous guitars and drums that trade blows at the gates of Valhalla, all deftly balanced on a psychedelic knife-edge, the band also takes to the road this summer with a tour across Finland (see dates below).

More info on Earthbound will be released in the coming weeks (along with pre-order details) but for now, kick back and enjoy their new video and single here.

NEXT LIVE DATES:
10th June – Hard Rock House – Helsinki, Finland
17th June – Dog’s Home – Tampere, Finland
9th July – BarBar Feast 2022 – Tallinn, Estonia
23rd July – Vahantarock 2022 – Ylöjärvi, Finland

📷 @aj_savolainen

Following on from the success of their 2018 debut album Lightbringer, Scandinavian sludge savants BLACK ROYAL returned earlier this year with their creed crushing new album on Suicide Records.

Formed in 2013 in Tampere, Finland, the quartet revisited their highly infectious brew of metal with Firebride, as they ushered in a devastating foray into the fields of Wicca. Much like their debut single, ‘Pagan Saviour’, sonically the band’s latest single ‘Gods of War’ is one step removed from their previously considered style of “Death Blues” and takes clear influence from black metal and modern sludge. Recorded live in Studio Watercastle, a small town in rural part of the Pirkanmaa region of Finland, and completed last September at the band’s own Armless HQ studio; mixed by Jussi Kulomaa and mastered by Jaakko Viitalähde, Black Royal excel in a bastard portrayal of mood, beguiling riffs and measured choruses that pitch them somewhere between the dramaturgy of Ghost and brutality of Behemoth.

“’Gods of War’ started out as a guitar jam but eventually turned into a worthy song,” explains Black Royal vocalist, Riku. “We heard that one can find echoes of Mastodon and Kvelertak in this song and it suits us just fine as both are fantastic bands! The lyrics are inspired by the Vikings TV series and a war between paganism and Christianity. Without the clergymen nobody would talk about the Devil. The Devil as we know it exists only in Christianity. Pagans do not have a Devil – they have Spirits which were good or bad according to how one lived and got along with them. In the middle part of the song there’s an old Finnish witch song which suits perfectly with the mood and honours the Finnish pagan cultural heritage.”