Review: Palace Of The King – White Bird/Burn The Sky

Listenable Records (2015)

Reviewer: Dan Mann

I’ll be honest and say I’ve been eagerly awaiting this album after hearing the first single. And am I disappointed? Nope, far from it.

What your presented with is 10 tracks worth of absolutely solid rock with elements of blues, rock ‘n roll and a hint of good old Sixties psychedelia!

From the opening riff of ‘Take Your Medicine‘ I knew I was going to like this, just so up my street taste wise.

The pace does not slacken, as we zip through ‘No Chance In Hell‘ and onto the funk infused ‘Another Thing Coming‘, absolute killer track!

‘Burn My Bridges‘ has waves of 70’s soaked keyboards, building into an atmospheric, multilayered treat.

And so we reach the two longest tracks on the album at just over six minutes each. I’m rather enjoying bands ‘bringing back’ tracks of shall we say an extended length as it allows the song to grow & breath if that makes any sense? We first have ‘White Bird (Bring Your Armies Against Me)‘ which has a really catchy riff and once again brings that Sixties vibe to the forefront. This is followed by ‘Ain’t Got Nobody To Blame But Myself‘ a slow builder very much in the vein of Rival Sons with a terrific guitar solo which had me reaching for the volume knob and cranking it up!

‘Leave Me Behind‘ has a great brass/horn inclusion which helps bring this track alive without sounding old fashioned in the slightest. The organ sound at the start of ‘Devil’s Daughter‘ instantly reminds you of the Blues Brothers, and it leads you into a real foot tapper. And my foot does not stop tapping as ‘Get Back Up (Burn The Sky)‘ comes pumping through the speakers. Reminiscent of the Black Crows.

And now unfortunately we reach the final track of the album. Not unfortunately as in ‘If It Ain’t Broke‘ is crap, far from it. It’s just a real shame the album is over as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.

To summarize, if your a fan of Rival Sons, Black Crows or just good honest rock with a soul, then this album is for you.