{"id":95597,"date":"2024-02-22T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=95597"},"modified":"2024-02-22T23:55:35","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T23:55:35","slug":"influences-royal-tusk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/influences-royal-tusk\/","title":{"rendered":"Influences: Royal Tusk"},"content":{"rendered":"

For\u00a0Royal Tusk<\/strong>, the road to releasing their new album, ‘Altruistic’<\/em>, has been treacherous. It arrives six years on their sophomore offering,\u00a0‘Tusk II’<\/em> and in the time since they’ve experienced a fair amount of upheaval. From losing a member (and becoming a trio) to vocalist Daniel Carriere fighting a year-long battle to recover from a blood clot in his lung. Add to that the lengthy writing of what would become ‘Altruistic’, and it’s safe to say\u00a0Royal Tusk<\/strong> are back and raring to go.<\/p>\n

Having defined an anthemic hard rock sound, ‘Altruistic’<\/em> sees the Alberta, Canada three-piece up the ante with a set of bold, riff-laden songs with plenty of skyscraper choruses on offer. Recent singles such as\u00a0‘Hated’<\/em><\/a>, ‘Head Up’<\/i><\/a>, and ‘Here On Out’<\/i><\/a> are scorched with fire and an abundance of adrenaline. Whereas its title track is a heart-pounding thrill ride.<\/p>\n

Although the album was written before Carriere’s health issues, along with bassist Sandy MacKinnon and guitarist Quinn Cyrankiewicz,\u00a0Royal Tusk<\/strong> delivers a record full of determination and courage. You just have to listen to the penultimate track, ‘Breathe’,<\/em> to hear their collective perseverance.<\/p>\n

It’s clear Royal Tusk<\/strong> are students of all things rock, so we thought it’d be a good idea to quiz bassist Sandy MacKinnon on the bands that have inspired him along the way. From picking up bass to play ‘Killing In the Name’<\/em>, to thrash metal classics, to technical riff specialists.<\/p>\n