Kamikaze Kings – Royal Renegades (2016)

KAMIKAZE KINGS is a Rock and Roll band based out of Berlin, Germany. “Royal Renegades” is their newest album, and contains 14 tracks. “Rock And Roll Sacrilege” is a mid-tempo opener with a heavy, powerful sound and a chorus clearly made for fans to sing along with. The vocals are semi-clean; raspy and mid-range for the most part. “Touchdown In The Danger Zone” is a little swifter in pace with some additional vocal harmonies but the main riff is a little thin as the vocals move the track along.

“Dirty Girl” has an old school Glam feeling to it and is the kind of song that sounds like it was just meant to have fun with it, while “Live To Rock” is a slow anthem where the rhythm is carried by heavy, impactful drum beats and low end bass guitar.

“Powerbreaker” is the first track to feature lead guitar in the opening sound and has some more get-up-and-go with a swifter pace and vocal highs. Sometimes the chords go places that I wouldn’t expect and connect in a fashion that doesn’t keep the sound consistent. Acoustics open the song “Helden Sterben Nie” which is sung in their native German language. You could think of this song as a ballad as it never ventures into distorted guitar territory or an all-out chorus.

“She’s A Rocker” resonates more with the sense of style and attitude that peppered the 1980’s radio waves at the time. There isn’t a lot going on in terms of riff or time changes but the main sound is consistently pleasing. The first track to really punch you hard is the song “Infernal Bloodbound,” which contains the first heard vocals fry on the album. The trade-off between the clean and vocals fry definitely gives this song a meatier edge. “No Regrets” is fast enough to perhaps come under a Power Metal umbrella, especially with the soaring vocal nature of the chorus. “Ungebrochen” closes the album. It’s another acoustic ballad sung in German but this time with the addition of piano. There is a nice vocal crescendo here that rings with emotion.

Overall, I think the album has potential but I find that it wallows too much in slow or mid-tempo tracks that just don’t seem energetic enough to grab my attention. The production and musicianship if fine but it doesn’t create enough moments of memorability.

1. Rock And Roll Sacrilege
2. Heavy On My Heart
3. Touchdown In The Danger Zone
4. Dirty Girl
5. Live To Rock
6. Powerbreaker
7. Helden Sterben Nie
8. L’ Etat’ C’est Moi
9. She’s A Rocker
10. Infernal Bloodbond
11. Steel On Steel
12. No Regrets
13. Take It Like A Man
14. Ungebrochen

Elmo – Vocals
Rais – Drums
Conny – Guitar
Ace – Bass

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