{"id":77072,"date":"2019-03-11T15:00:42","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T15:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=77072"},"modified":"2023-04-07T14:24:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T13:24:46","slug":"review-the-royal-deathwatch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-the-royal-deathwatch\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Royal &#8211; Deathwatch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-77073 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/267091-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/267091-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/267091-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/267091-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/267091-30x30.jpg 30w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/267091.jpg 425w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Upon its 2017 release, <b>The Royal\u2019s<\/b> second full-length <i>\u2018Seven\u2019<\/i> made serious waves for the Eindhoven quintet, as they stormed their way across Europe and the UK with the likes of Oceans Ate Alaska, Crystal Lake and The Charm The Fury. Naturally, follow-up <i>\u2018Deathwatch\u2019<\/i> has been highly anticipated in the melodic metalcore community.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">There was a notable difference between lead single <em>\u2018Nine for Hell\u2019<\/em> and anything from <i>\u2018Seven\u2019,<\/i> which reveals itself throughout <i>\u2018Deathwatch\u2019<\/i>. This record&#8217;s production is notably weaker than its predecessor, with a softer guitar tone delivering softer punches than the likes of <i>\u2018Wildmind\u2019<\/i> and <i>\u2018Life Breaker\u2019<\/i> did before. This shouldn\u2019t detract from the songwriting, but you&#8217;re left yearning for a more crushing impact upon the double-kick-laden lashing that opens the album on <i>\u2018Pariah.\u2019<\/i><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"The Royal - Deathwatch (feat. Ryo Kinoshita of Crystal Lake)(Official Video)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6mq0frMFUvM?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Either way, songwriting-wise, this is a step up for <b>The Royal<\/b>. Anthems such as <i>\u2018Savages\u2019<\/i> references to &#8220;<i>the motion of the world as we know it, caught between the bullets and the bombs&#8221;<\/i> rings as a protest against global warfare and terrorism. While <i>\u2018Soul Sleeper\u2019s\u2019<\/i> depressive analogy of <i>&#8220;drowning in my thoughts\u2019<\/i> and <i>\u2018sinking further and further&#8221;<\/i>\u00a0is both eloquent and harrowing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">While the inclusion of keyboard melodies on <i>\u2018State of Dominance\u2019<\/i> and <i>\u2018Exodus Black\u2019<\/i>, with moments of brooding atmosphere sprinkled across the album, offer more substance than the straightforward melodeath of <i>\u2018Seven\u2019<\/i>. The latter track works especially well on the title track, when the tense restraint on the verses contrasts from the frenetic chugging of the song\u2019s mid-section featuring guest vocals from Crystal Lake\u2019s Ryo Kinoshita.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><i>\u2018Deathwatch\u2019<\/i> will likely be a lot of new fans introduction to <b>The Royal<\/b>, and they\u2019ll find enough highlights here to make them their new favourite band. It\u2019s just a shame that their step-up in songwriting seems to have come as a trade for heavier production. Ultimately, this record giveth, and this record taketh away.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">3.5\/5<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><i>\u2018Deathwatch\u2019<\/i> by <b>The Royal<\/b> is out now on <b>Long Branch Records.<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><b>The Royal<\/b> links: <a href=\"\/\/www.theroyalofficial.com\/\">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:\/\/www.instagram.com\/theroyalmetal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Words by Andy Davidson (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndyrfDavidson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@AndyrfDavidson<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Deathwatch\u2019 will likely be a lot of new fans introduction to The Royal&#8230; It\u2019s just a shame that their step-up in songwriting seems to have come as a trade for heavier production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":77108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[5879,62,15033,16699,1138,1987],"class_list":["post-77072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-reviews","tag-already-heard","tag-andrew-davidson","tag-deathwatch","tag-long-branch-records","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 - Deathwatch - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u2018Deathwatch\u2019 will likely be a lot of new fans introduction to The Royal... 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