With White Bird / Burn The Sky, local five-piece Palace Of The King set a new standard in Aussie hard rock. As opposed to the large majority of debut releases, there is literally no filler on this ten-track release.
Album opener Take Your Medicine begins with a riff that would put Eddie Van Halen to shame. At the two minute mark, the songs drops down to a gut shaking bass solo, only to be followed six seconds later by the eruption of thatsame riff. The dual album title refers to the fact it’s split into side-A, White Bird, and side-B, Burn The Sky. The second half of the album opens with Ain’t Got Nobody To Blame But Myself; a song driven by a heavily phased guitar line, which is accented by a rich organ.
It should be noted that the opening statement of this review was far from hyperbole – White Bird / Burn The Sky fucking rules. A core component of the album’s sheer awesomeness is vocalist Tim Henwood, whose rich and versatile voice is heavily reminiscent of Kyuss’ John Garcia.Meanwhile, the rollicking energy of Leave Me Behind – where drummer Anthony Troiano and bassist Andrew Gilpin threaten to overwhelm Leigh Maden and Matthew Harrison’s screeching guitar lines – sees Henwood doing his best Axl Rose impersonation.
If you like your rock’n’roll with more juice than a bodybuilding competition, then checkout this high quality rock album from a bunch of talented locals.
BY DAN WATT
