Royal Blood – Dead Company

Royal Blood, after a brief quiet spell following 2023’s Back to the Water Below and its subsequent tour, have returned bigger and louder than ever with Dead Company: a rapturous return to their hard-rock roots.

The album kicks off with the eponymous track Dead Company; it’s undoubtedly a statement to listeners that they are back and mean business, as the proceedings are smashed open with an immediate kick triplet from drummer Ben Thatcher, that’s swiftly followed by an equally thunderous and rapid-firing bass guitar shred from vocalist and bass guitarist Mike Kerr. Royal Blood have always had a mind-bending knack for creating sharp riffs without requiring a traditional six-string guitarist, and the track’s zippy bass threads are no exception as they slash and cut through the dense clashes of Thatcher’s drums.

Swallow the Bomb brings the attitude as Kerr spits quick-fire lyrics that build, with the barrelling drive of Thatcher’s sticks, to a crescendo with smooth vocals before they crash to a stop with a whip of fiery bass; while Ten Over Ten is a more gruff, classic rock affair as fuzzed out riffs take hold and bluesier rhythms take over – there’s an air of AC/DC à la their High Voltage album, as bass-lines chug and move with menace, before the rock duo hit listeners with a sudden slap of thunderous rock at the culmination of each chorus run.

Nowhere All Along follows this thread with a steady, more stripped-back, bluesy drive that’s led by Kerr’s sinister vocal snarl; but things begin to take a real turn with Take Em All: a dynamic and charged entry that leans, just a little, into more psychedelic territory with its looping, echo chamber vocals that open the track and circle again later at its bridge – it’s a marginally lighter number, but packs just as much punch as the preceding tracks, whilst carrying a twisted, hypnotic edge that provides the necessary sonic variation.

Clocking in at around the 30-minute mark, the pair take little to no pause with Dead Company and are firing on all cylinders as blistering bass riffs fly from all angles at breakneck speed while listeners are simultaneously hit with the constant feed of unrelenting percussion from Thatcher – it’s a true return to form for the Worthing duo that feels uncompromisingly Royal Blood, and the two, in returning to their roots with their brand of unrepentant hard-rock, have found themselves back at their best.

Ronan Fawsitt
Image: Edward Cooke

Dead Company is released on 6^th November 2026. For further information or to order the album, visit Royal Blood’s website here.

Watch the video for Ten Over Ten here: