VIDEO PREMIERE: Exeter heavy metal band Royal Hell summons a ‘Higher Court’
Exeter heavy metal band Royal Hell has been writing original songs and playing shows for three years, but they haven’t released an album of their hard work yet.
That changes this fall starting with “Higher Court,” a new song accompanied by a dark music video premiering today on NEPA Scene.
Living and breathing classic metal, vocalist Matt Peppe’s description of his band reads more like a mantra.
“We love rock ‘n’ roll. We love heavy metal. We bow at the altar. Royal Hell is our love song,” he told NEPA Scene.
“I sometimes like to think it’s ’70s rock meets ’80s metal with some modern sounds.”
The video for “Higher Court,” produced and directed by James Callahan of music promotion and production team Camp Rattler, tells a grim tale about “that flimsy, gray veil that is draped between good and evil, right and wrong.”
“Mostly evil,” Peppe emphasized.
Lying in wait for months, the video captures three seasons at Lottabone Farms in Harding, where Callahan grew up, a beautiful area to tell a “weird story” about messing with Mother Nature and dark forces you don’t understand.
“The video came out great. I’m honored such talented people invested their time into us and believed in us,” Peppe said.
Another talented producer, Clyde Rosencrance, is currently recording the band’s debut EP at Republic Audio in Clarks Summit. “Higher Court” is the first single from this as-yet-untitled album due out in late September, just in time for the Darkenheavy Campfest at Mountain Sky (63 Stillmeadow Lane, Jermyn) on Friday, Sept. 27 through Sunday, Sept. 29.
Also created by Camp Rattler, Darkenheavy is a brand new Halloween and horror-themed festival featuring underground music, sideshow performers, pro-wrestling, scary movies, combat demos, cosplay, art galleries, vendors, and more. Over the last few years, Royal Hell has opened for Dokken, Warrant, Hinder, Anti-Flag, D.R.I., Attacker, Flaw, Killcode, and Dead Girls Academy, among others, so this event can be added to an already impressive resume for the band, which features Eugene Pavlico on guitar, David Kusma Jr. on bass, and Rob Helme on drums.
“We’ve been honored and humbled by some of the bands we’ve shared a stage with over the last few years,” Peppe noted, “And we’ve been compared to some of our favorite bands ever, so that gives us the drive to keep going.”
Learn more about Royal Hell, Camp Rattler, and local metal music in Episode 61 of the NEPA Scene Podcast:
