Royal Blood | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Brighton duo Royal Blood channeled the blues-rock dynamism of the likes of the White Stripes, the Black Keys, and Two Gallants, yet they amped up the ferocity and volume with scuzzy riffs and blustering energy. Comprising drummer Ben Thatcher and bassist/vocalist Mike Kerr, the two-piece formed at the beginning of 2013 when Kerr returned from a trip to Australia and Thatcher picked him up from the airport. They managed to play their first show the very next day and continued to write new material throughout the year. Although constrained to just two instruments, they made their presence known with pounding drums and heavily distorted bass guitar that drove the melodic intensity of their songs, alongside Kerrs emotive vocals. They were championed by the BBC on their Sound of 2014 list, as well as Arctic Monkeys Matt Helders, who wore their T-shirt during their headlining 2013 Glastonbury performance and invited them to open their huge Finsbury Park shows. The duo then released the single "Out of the Black" and signed to Warner Bros. later that year. A second single, "Little Monster," appeared in February of 2014, while a four-song EP, Out of the Black, came a month later in March, collecting the A- and B-sides of the two singles. Their debut self-titled full-length was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales and released later that year, reaching number one in the U.K. and Ireland. Tours with Iggy Pop and Foo Fighters followed, and in early 2015 Royal Blood won Best British Group at the Brit Awards, receiving their trophy from an admirer, none other than Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. Royal Blood returned in June of 2017 with their sophomore LP, How Did We Get So Dark? | ||
 | Album: 1 of 3 Title: Out of the Black Released: 2014-03-11 Tracks: 4 Duration: 14:55 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Out of the Black (04:00) 2 Little Monster (03:32) 3 Come on Over (02:51) 4 Hole (04:31) |
 | Album: 2 of 3 Title: Royal Blood Released: 2014-08-22 Tracks: 10 Duration: 32:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Out of the Black (04:00) 2 Come On Over (02:51) 3 Figure It Out (03:04) 4 You Can Be So Cruel (02:44) 5 Blood Hands (03:07) 6 Little Monster (03:32) 7 Loose Change (02:36) 8 Careless (03:21) 9 Ten Tonne Skeleton (03:07) 10 Better Strangers (04:12) |
| Royal Blood : Allmusic album Review : The bludgeoning opener to Royal Bloods self-titled debut, "Out of the Black" is a riff-fueled onslaught that belies their two-piece status; with just a heavily processed bass guitar and a drum set between them, they make some four-piece rock bands look inconsequential. Their bustling career started just 24 hours after drummer Ben Thatcher picked up vocalist/bassist Mike Kerr after he touched down from a trip to Australia with a show in their hometown in Brighton, and they didnt look back. In roughly a year together Royal Blood have learned quickly, and tour dates and the early support of Arctic Monkeys -- who themselves were thrust quickly into the limelight -- influenced tracks such as "Blood Hands," which has all the cocksure swagger of the Sheffield outfit. Combining crushing drums and Kerrs hybrid bass setup -- which is ingeniously split through both a bass amp and a guitar amp, with pitch-shifters, modulation, and heavy distortion bolstering the rugged sound -- the duo draws immediate comparisons to luminaries the White Stripes, with "Loose Change" bearing significant familiarity, while there are nods at various times to Muse and Two Gallants as Royal Blood pummel their way through "Figure It Out." When Kerr and Thatcher arent pounding their instruments hard, the limitations to their sparse setup does leave songs feeling a little flat, with "You Can Be So Cruel" and "Ten Tonne Skeleton" suffering slightly to fill the dynamics, but at the same time strains of early Queens of the Stone Age creep into the rolling guitar riffs and Kerrs voice is stretched to its limits. However, its not all guitars and drums, and singles "Little Monster" and "Come on Over" illustrate their aptitude for well-crafted structures and melodies, and the moody delivery of Kerrs wholehearted vocals is prominent in the radio-friendly mix. The whirlwind year that took the duo from obscurity to 2013s Glastonbury Festival is akin to the full-throttle rock music Royal Blood create, and there is little time for respite during their breezy debut album that bridges the gap between heavy-hitting rock and digestible pop/rock. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 3 Title: How Did We Get So Dark? Released: 2017-06-16 Tracks: 10 Duration: 34:29 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 How Did We Get So Dark? (03:17) 2 Lights Out (03:56) 3 I Only Lie When I Love You (02:49) 4 She’s Creeping (03:23) 5 Look Like You Know (03:05) 6 Where Are You Now? (02:46) 7 Don’t Tell (03:38) 8 Hook, Line & Sinker (03:28) 9 Hole in Your Heart (03:46) 10 Sleep (04:17) |
| How Did We Get So Dark? : Allmusic album Review : On their eponymous 2014 debut, Royal Blood came across like a monochromatic Brummie version of the White Stripes, one that was intent on hitting so hard they could conjure memories of Black Sabbath. Despite its foreboding title, How Did We Get So Dark? doesnt feel quite as heavy as its predecessor. Much of this is due to the duo of Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher opening up their production so that How Did We Get So Dark? doesnt primarily rely on their hypercharged rhythm section. To be sure, this remains the bedrock of Royal Bloods sound, but the addition of fuzz guitars, harmonies, and even a few keyboards along with a bit of a funk swing to the grooves makes a world of difference in the bands attack. Here, they not only sound brawny but nimble, navigating twists in their riffs and rhythms without a hitch and without flash. Such lack of pretension usually works for Royal Bloods overall benefit -- it underscores their muscle -- even if it occasionally means that their songs can feel like a pile of hooks. That doesnt happen as often on How Did We Get So Dark? as it did on Royal Blood: broadening the sonic palette helps sharpen the songs, and the result is a sophomore set thats ambitious and satisfying. | ||