Review by Adam M on May 8, 2015.

I must admit that this was my first exposure to Royal Thunder. Having heard similar bands like The Devil’s Blood, Graveyard, Witch Mountain and Dwellers, I have been exposed to this style, however. There are shades of doom, stoner and ethereal post-music to be found in this band’s sound as well.

A female vocalist occupies this rock-influenced style of a band again and in this case steals the show on Crooked Doors. Mlny Parsons is equal measures powerful, evocative and dynamic. This style of the band is complemented wonderfully by this lady’s vocal performance. Otherwise, the music crafted by Royal Thunder is exciting, catchy and well-written. Royal Thunder shows a penchant for emotion and attention to subtlety in their music. Sometimes one does wish that the band would reach a little bit further into more unknown musical elements as the album does come off slightly standard sounding. Despite the restrictive feeling of the album, there is an overabundance of emotional moments that completely compensate for this. This all emanates from the very beginning with the track Time Machine that is absolutely one of the most emphatic and enjoyable songs you’ll hear all year. While not quite up to that quality, many of the other tracks on this album excite and entice as well.

The passionate energy created by this band is what makes Crooked Doors such an eminently enjoyable release. Of course, every exciting riff is enhanced by the dynamic range of the vocals. Thus, despite not being the most original album you’ll hear this year, it is one of the more fun listens. It brings a similar level of quality as Graveyard’s Hisingen Blues album that was a high point for this sort of style in recent years. All heavy metal fans looking for an album that’s highly influenced by the seventies era of rock would be well served looking in Crooked Doors.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Death8699 on September 24, 2018.

Pretty even tempos on here, nothing too fast or too slow. We'll just keep them in the death metal category. This release is pretty solid. You get 10 tracks one of which is a cover ("Terrible Certainty" by Kreator), which was a good way to end the album. The rhythms on here reflect that of the older releases, namely Terror Regime. I have to say it was worth it to wait for a new release like this and the guitars are my favorite part of the album. They're noteworthy, riff-tastic and the combination between them and the vocals will keep them on going for years to come. I especially liked the guest vocals by Schmier (Destruction, ex-Panzer) on the track "Fearmonger."

This is 30+ minutes of brain wrenching death metal. They really stay to their roots on here and don't sacrifice their creativity just to make an album for its own sake. They're really passionate musicians playing in a digital age. It's great that they're making innovative albums and their death metal is not entirely too brutal. I felt this one is their strongest release in a while. They're just playing some intense lead guitar as well. But the rhythms hit home with me. I like the gallops and tremolo picking with the guitars, it's quite moving.

The production quality is superb and all of the instruments were well mixed. Nothing like the guitars don't drown out the vocals, the vocals don't drown out the guitars and the drums are solid. They're still a trio though. They need to find a permanent drummer. There were only 3 members on this release but as I've said there were guest vocals to change it up a bit. These guys play a lot of groove type of metal too. It isn't just death metal, there's that "groove" vibe to it as well. Pretty cool and never letting up on the style(s). They've really caught my eyes and ears to liking this album entirely.

Do what I did death metal fans, download the album on Spotify and if you like it enough, buy the physical copy of the album. Keep the Jungle Rot faith, show the band your support till the end. This self-titled album is so awesome; sure it's a little short in length but it'll blow your hair back! OWN IT NOW!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10