The Sword / Royal Thunder @ Ready Room, St. Louis, MO

Words and pictures by Duane Clawson

Alright MTC readers, sorry for the delay but the holidays, as they do with most of us, consume a fair amount of our attention. So now that the gifts are opened, let’s get back to the business of music reviewing. A couple of weeks back, I had the chance to catch my first show at St. Louis’s Ready Room. The opener, Royal Thunder, turned out to be a real sonic surprise. This big noise foursome from Georgia had quite an impact on those that came early and most eyes and ears were on female lead singer, Miny Parsonz. Parsonz's dark, yowling voice is pissed off with passion and a nice complement to Josh Weaver’s fretboard precision, combining neatly with the rest of the bands grungy rhythms. Give their latest effort, Crooked Doors, a listen, you just might become a fan.

With the general admission-styled Ready Room just shy of capacity, the Sword brought down a reign of metal fury with their opening number, “Tres Brujas”. As powerful as this opening was it, was soon noticeable that something was lacking. Namely John D. Cronise’s vocals. I am guessing this was a Ready Room problem and not a band problem, as I have seen a fair amount of footage from their previous shows with no noted issues. I will say with great confidence the music sounded, and felt great. Touring in promotion of the new album, High Country, the band introduces the audience to title track the third song in. The Sword sticks to the winning formula of Clutch-styled metal which blends stoner rock, early Black Sabbath, and psychedelic melodies. I forgot how these general admission styled shows can be, as I have discovered I cannot move. Not good for a photographer. The trippy “Dreamtheives” provides a solid, follow the bouncing ball, repeating rhythm, that most in attendance appear do, as heads bob and weave. The Texas-based quartet continues the barrage of songs about ancient mysteries and the accompanying sticky sweet melodies, that breathe new life into roots metal. Crowd interaction was minimal at best but as metal acts in the past have proven, we are just here to impress you with the music not our between song banter. So tossing out the vocal snafu , this show did what it was intended to do, rock your world! Thanks to the Ready Room and the Sword’s management for letting us into your world. Photos of the show are below:

Royal Thunder