Eldritch Stuff.

Diablo Royale.
(L-R) Adrian Barrios, Sweet Leaf, Eric Choy, Gerard Steixner, Mike Sankari

Adrian Barrios: Head-whipping, show-stealing Filipino rock-and-roll god made flesh.
Gerard Steixner: ‘Hawk-sporting, lanky guy-next-door whose fingers make Leslie (his guitar) sing.
Eric Choy: Button-down shirt, rolled-up sleeves, innate sex appeal that comes pre-packaged with guitar acumen.
Sweet Leaf: The Candy Man. ‘Nuff said. [Regretfully no longer a part of DR, but his skills are showcased on both of their albums.]
Mike Sankari: Soft-spoken businessman with a head for rhythm as well as promotion and organization.

Diablo Royale are a very accomplished five-some. Not only have they produced two full-length albums on their own (with a little help from their friends), but they are also the premier players in a showcase that is swiftly growing in NYC renown (Gotham Rocks), NYC’s newest radio and television darlings, Six Flags Fright Fest alums… put it this way. There’s nothing Diablo Royale can’t do.

What they are most proficient at is making gritty, grungy, feel-it-in-your-gut rock. Their first release, Diablo Royale, is a solid debut worthy of repeat plays — at no point on the album does it slack off or rest on its laurels, even after memorable crowd-pleasers like “Remedy” and “Dead At 21″. The lyrics are easily relatable without being cliched, the melodies are tight, and ‘Leaf and Mike lay down a sweet foot-tapping, head-nodding foundation for every brick-house track. My personal favorite from Diablo Royale is “Hooked” — a track on which Adrian Barrios really lets his voice soar.

Their second effort, for which the release party will take place at Gramercy Theater on the 25th of January in conjunction with the Gotham Rocks showcase, is when they got sexy.

Greedy Dogs takes DR’s penchant for making memorable songs to the next level. From the grind-your-hips riff to the nod to Black Sabbath on “Serpent” to the sing-the-fuck-along chorus on “Promised Land”, from the revamp of the fan favorite “Remedy” to the crisp and mature mixing of the album as a whole, there’s not a thing out of place on this fist-pumping sophomore album. This is not an album for the morning shower, or the commute, or break time on the job, or a steamy one-night stand — this is an album for all of those situations.

Remember when an album was an experience from beginning to end? Remember songs you could bang your head to, tap your feet to, shake your ass to, and sing along to? Remember bands that inspired generations of young females to throw their undergarments at their rock gods’ feet? Yeah. Diablo Royale’s bringing all that back, and bringing their friends (see: future local-band reviews that I will be making on this blog) along for the ride.

As long as there are bands like this, there will be a rock and roll scene in New York City.
I’m proud to appoint Myself as their Number One Fan.

DiabloRoyale.net
DR @ Facebook
DR @ MySpace
DR @ ReverbNation
DR @ Twitter

GothamRocks.net

Tags: local bands, Music, new york

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