MIDWEST MUSIC COLLECTIVE

I always love having my expectations broken and music is the one place where it consistently happens. The guys in ROYAL’Z formed the band only a few months ago and they are already incredible. The 5-member metalcore band out of Minnesota already have a tight and refined sound that you normally don’t hear from many new bands, you expect some growing pains as sounds and influences begin to merge while you try to form your own sounds as well. ROYAL’Z, however, hit the ground running and already have an impressive six videos out, two music videos, two lyric videos, and two audio streams. Their sound is reminiscent of Bring Me The Horizon or Ice Nine Kills (go listen to this song and then INK’s cover of Animals for a good comparison), a very metalcore band with a very slight pop edge to it. The music video itself features some of your metalcore touch stones, virtually empty area where the band plays, intercut those shots with some story line following a man and woman’s usually tragic love story, and blinding lights. That’s not to say it’s bad, the music video is really well done and thoroughly enjoyable, but it is familiar. The best part about Na Na Princess is the use of fractals and video distortion to cut between shots. Transitioning between shots is always had to do and if it’s done wrong it can really mess up the flow of a video and ruin the experience, however the fractals and distortion provide a seamless way to work between them while also providing something unique to the video. The video is solid and really well done, but the song is definitely more memorable. You can watch the video for Na Na Princess here.