{"id":2588,"date":"2017-04-06T15:22:12","date_gmt":"2017-04-06T15:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-the-royal-seven\/"},"modified":"2018-03-22T22:43:53","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T22:43:53","slug":"review-the-royal-seven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-the-royal-seven\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Royal &#8211; Seven"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure class=\"tmblr-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/9940f7af9760fccfb6acb2c89df16840\/tumblr_inline_onzb92MUOi1qztcot_540.jpg\" width=\"250em\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p>Not to be confused with the Milwaukee electro-pop troupe of the same name, <b>The Royal<\/b> are a five-piece metalcore outfit hailing from Eindhoven. More than four years on from formation, <i>\u2018Seven\u2019<\/i> represents the group\u2019s major label debut and the first many will hear of them. Decisively closer to the metal side of the coin, they could represent a refreshing slant on a genre that has lately grown repetitive, wearisome and, well, generic.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s quickly clear from <i>\u2018Thunder\u2019<\/i> that <b>The Royal<\/b> do not intend to break the mould however; doomy licks supplement a rather flat and subdued opener that is followed by the similarly average <i>\u2018Feeding Wolves\u2019<\/i>. The only notable point to take from a decidedly weak first half is <i>\u2018Seven\u2019<\/i>\u2019s squeaky clean production; safe and compressed, Sem Pisarahu\u2019s vocal capabilities reduced to colourless, mid-range mediocrity.<\/p>\n<p><!-- more --><\/p>\n<p>The titular and &#8211; you guessed it &#8211; the seventh track is promising for all of the fourteen seconds of its prickly introduction. Unfortunately, it turns out to be another messy affair lacking direction or clarity of thought, and it is unclear how the song made the cut for the record, let alone inspired its name.<\/p>\n<p>Ten tracks of meandering metal blend together before the first decent guitar riff \u2013 the climax of the slow-burning <i>\u2018Draining Veins\u2019<\/i>, tellingly free from Pisarahu for a minute and a half. The album\u2019s conclusion altogether proves to be its strength, with <i>\u2018Viridian\u2019<\/i>\u2019s insistent chorus leaving a rare, albeit brief, impression.<\/p>\n<p>Everything about <i>\u2018Seven\u2019<\/i> feels hashed together \u2013 from the artwork to the needless piano that bookends <i>\u2018Counterculture\u2019<\/i>, an air of half-heartedness pervades the work. Not one track defines it in a positive light or would be worthy of a single. The move to a major label is the ruin of some bands; <b>The Royal<\/b> could do worse than take a step back and recognise the early symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>1.5\/5<\/p>\n<p><i>\u2018Seven\u2019<\/i> by <b>The Royal<\/b> is out now on <b>Long Branch Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>The Royal<\/b> links: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theroyalofficial.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a>|<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theroyalofficial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>|<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheRoyalMetal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a>|<a href=\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/theroyalmetal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Peter Stewart (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PeteStew_\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@PeteStew_<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not to be confused with the Milwaukee electro-pop troupe of the same name, The Royal are a five-piece metalcore outfit hailing from Eindhoven. More than four years on from formation, \u2018Seven\u2019 represents the group\u2019s major label debut and the first many will hear of them. Decisively closer to the metal side of the coin, they [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":16244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1138,15030,1988,1987],"class_list":["post-2588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-long-branch-records","tag-peter-stewart","tag-seven","tag-the-royal"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: The Royal - Seven - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Not to be confused with the Milwaukee electro-pop troupe of the same name, The Royal are a five-piece metalcore outfit hailing from Eindhoven. 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