After 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, their infectious brew of metals has garnered praise from the likes of Metal Injection, MetalSucks and CVLT Nation, and drawn hordes of followers with their creed crushing choruses and beguiling riffs, pitched perfectly between the dramaturgy of Ghost and brutality of Behemoth.
This October, the band will make an almighty return to the fold with Earthbound, their third full-length album and first on M-Theory Audio. Following the release of the title track in June, you can experience the fire and fury of new single, ‘13th Moon’ now! With a video created by Rafael Ortega (Ayreon, Subterranean Masquerade) premièring all this week at Decibel Magazine, packing plenty of low-and-slow grooves and upbeat pacing, “It’s the perfect summation of what these Finns do best…” says writer, Vince Bellino.
“It started as a rehearsal room jam between Toni and I,” explains bassist, Pete. “I had the main riff, and we were excited to do a more of an up-tempo rocker that would be fun to play live and get some heads moshing!”
Written and recorded at Studio Watercastle last August, mixed by Oskari Hakala Rahko (Lordi, Blind Guardian) and mastered by Jaakko Viitalähde (Convulse, Oranssi Pazuzu), Earthbound will deliver the band’s heaviest collection of lurching sludge and groove-laden death metal songs yet. Filled with thunderous guitars and drums that trade blows at the gates of Valhalla, all deftly balanced on a psychedelic knife-edge, Earthbound will be released on 21st October 2022 on limited-edition “Phoenix Ascending” coloured vinyl and on Digipak CD.Pre-order HERE
“Black Royal make some pretty gnarly sludge n’ roll. It’s reminiscent of Entombed, a combination of roaring death metal with a Motorhead groove.” METALSUCKS
“Are you ready to give props to Black Royal for bringing a storm of heavy riffs? You should be because this is a sonic volcanic eruption of molten sludge.” CVLT NATION
“Blues and death sludge go together like peanut butter and jelly, and Black Royal know exactly how to smash them together.” ANGRY METAL GUY
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