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Jul 12, 2023 Web Exclusive By Frank Valish

By 2018, after 14 years and three albums, Royal Thunder was seemingly finished. Having seen its second guitarist leave and with its core members suffering the weight of years of too much alcohol and partying, the band disappeared after 2017’s stellar, hard-rocking Wick. The pandemic, however, after some initial hardship, ultimately provided the band with a chance to reconnect. Band members got sober, started sharing songs, and what came of it all is the first album from the Georgia trio in six years.

Rebuilding the Mountain‘s lead single, a fierce rocker titled “The Knife,” finds Royal Thunder’s firebrand singer Mlny Parsonz bearing her soul, exposing the demons that she faced and triumphed over, intoning “I press my neck straight into the knife,” before ending with the cathartic, “You don’t need me anymore, now it’s my turn to go.”

Elsewhere, songs like “Twice,” “Live to Live,” and “Fade” are dense, slow burn rock and roll that straddle the line between doom, metal, and atmospheric hard rock, all centering around Parsonz’s powerful, impassioned vocal delivery. Ultimately, despite having seemingly disappeared after Wick, Rebuilding the Mountain finds Royal Thunder doing just that, rebuilding and returning to what made it a powerful force. A return most welcome. (www.spinefarmrecords.com) (www.royalthunder.bandcamp.com)

Author rating: 7/10