On Rock Ridge Music

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There’s no shortage of bands jumping into the underground hardcore scene, and there’s plenty of room on the stages of national tours for bands that can keep up with standard bearers like Hatebreed. But here's a band that can hold it's own with the best of 'em.

Before my first listen of Northwest Royale’s Home Is Where The Hate Is I looked at the band photo on the CD booklet and thought, damn, these dudes need hoodies and chin music to look hard core. What I mean is, aside from lead guitarist Travis Nestor, these dudes look like kids, and a couple of them sporting some serious baby faces. Bass player Kenny Nestor looks like a goddamn chick. Not that that’s a bad thing. Plenty of huge rocks stars over the years have had those girlish good looks and still got more ass than a toilet seat. Oh, and props to the drummer for coming up with a funny stage name. Beef Wellington rules for a name, dude. Are you related to Chuck Roast by any chance? Needless to say, I was not expecting to hear what I heard when I cracked the seal on this puppy.

You know me, I’m an old guy, so 1980’s Suicidal Tendencies continues to be my bar of measurement for good hardcore. But, I will tell you, right out of the box, track 1, Kill All The Haters (a song I’d like the band to consider dedicating to the rant boards at KNAC.COM), kicks ass, and each track delivers. The vocals are a powerful combination of yelling, growling, menacing spoken word and yes, singing. Travis’ guitar solo is a welcome surprise. In fact, his guitar work throughout the album sets Northwest Royale apart.

Another pleasant surprise is how different each new song sounds from the last. This is a style of music where the music can get lost in the message. I mean, how important really is the music when all you want to say is “we hate, they hate, you hate, let’s hate, hate hate hate?” I am oversimplifying things of course, but you know what I mean. Lot's of bands put out the anger and forget the chops. In this case, these boys from Eugene Oregon makes every song stand out on it’s own, with lyrics that go beyond the basic fair.

Nothwest Royale are smart musicians, too. They’ve cut out all the crap while taking this type of music to a new level. There are little devices throughout to keep you hooked. The guitar work is crisp and every now and then you’ll hear nods to the masters, like at the end of Drinkin’ Again - - there is a clear riff of appreciation to Anthrax. Listen to it for yourself and see if you don’t agree with me.

Here’s the track list:

• Kill All the Haters
• 16 Chokes
• Now I See
• Best of Me
• Loathing and Love
• Living Hell
• Political Assylum
• Fight
• Drinkin’ Again
• Broken Wings

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