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Royal Blood

1 guitar song · Tabs, Lessons & Tone Guide Alternative Rock

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Band Overview

Royal Blood emerged in 2014 from Brighton, England, as a refreshingly stripped-down two-piece that proved heavy rock didn't need a bass player or complex arrangements to hit hard. Guitarists Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher created a sound that blends thick, fuzzy riffing with modern production sensibilities, landing somewhere between Queens of the Stone Age's desert heaviness and Arctic Monkeys' contemporary swagger. Their self-titled debut album dominated rock radio and proved that downtuned, overdrive-saturated guitars and punchy rhythms could pack venues without filler songs or unnecessary instrumentation. For guitarists, Royal Blood is essential because Kerr's approach strips playing down to its fundamentals: heavy riffs that lock into the drums like a bass would, thick tone from boutique overdrives and fuzzy pedals, and an emphasis on groove over technical showmanship. His guitar work is primarily rhythmic, using palm-muting, double-stop riffs, and heavily saturated tones to create a wall of sound that functions as both lead and rhythm instrument simultaneously. The band's popularity in the 2010s reinvigorated interest in heavy, riff-based rock at a time when the genre was fragmented across metal subgenres and Indie Rock trends. Mike Kerr is the creative voice, handling all guitar duties with a tone that sits fat and present in the mix, while his picking hand alternates between aggressive downpicking on power chords and more nuanced finger work on melodic passages. The difficulty level for learning Royal Blood songs ranges from intermediate to advanced: the rhythmic sensibilities are straightforward, but nailing the exact tone, timing, and feel requires understanding amp dynamics, overdrive stacking, and how to make thick tones sit in a mix without a dedicated bassist. Kerr's willingness to use alternative tunings and embrace gear experimentation makes their catalog rewarding for guitarists interested in tone-shaping and modern rock production.

What Makes Royal Blood Essential for Guitar Players

  • Heavy use of stacked overdrives and fuzz pedals to create a thick, saturated tone that replaces traditional bass frequencies. Kerr layers multiple gain stages to achieve sustain and presence without resorting to extreme distortion, maintaining note clarity even with heavy palm-muting and chords.
  • Master of the palm-muted, downpicked power chord riff as the foundation of songs. Royal Blood builds entire arrangements around locked-in rhythmic patterns that sit tight with the drums, making timing precision and consistent attack crucial to nailing their songs.
  • Frequent use of alternative tunings and baritone registers to add weight to the guitar tone. Kerr drops tunings low enough to access sub-bass frequencies while maintaining harmonic clarity, a technique that requires thicker strings and careful amp EQ to avoid mud.
  • Legato and hammer-on passages used strategically for melodic contrast against heavy riff sections. Songs shift between percussive, staccato rhythms and flowing single-note lines, requiring clean technique and precise muting discipline to execute both styles credibly.
  • Dynamic use of volume pedals and tone knob rolling to sculpt sustain and amp response in real-time. Rather than relying on channel switching or complex effects chains, Kerr shapes tone through interactive gear manipulation, a hands-on approach that rewards active listening and amp familiarity.

Did You Know?

Mike Kerr famously recorded Royal Blood's debut album using a Fender Telecaster Plus and stacked Fulltone overdrive pedals through a vintage Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, proving that tone comes from understanding gear interaction, not gear count. The combination of single-coil brightness and heavy overdrives was unconventional and became instantly recognizable.

The band's two-piece setup meant Kerr had to address the 'missing bass' problem through gear rather than arrangement changes. He achieved this by tuning down to drop-C and lower, using a compressor to maintain sustain, and carefully EQing his amp to preserve bass frequencies without sacrificing definition.

Royal Blood's 'Figure It Out' features one of the most infectious downpicked riff patterns in modern rock, performed with such precision that many listeners assumed it was a synth or programmed bass line. In reality, it's pure guitar dexterity and pedal work creating an illusion of electronic tightness.

Kerr has cited Queens of the Stone Age and Arctic Monkeys as major influences, but his approach to tone deliberately moved away from the wall-of-fuzz school of QOTSA toward cleaner, more articulate overdriven textures. This balance between heaviness and clarity became a defining characteristic of 2010s rock guitar.

The band's use of a Suhr guitar in later tours shows Kerr's evolution toward high-end instruments with better electronics and sustain characteristics, a move that complemented his preference for tonal nuance over pure volume.

Royal Blood pioneered the 'loud quiet loud' dynamic structure in modern rock radio, heavily dependent on Kerr's ability to control feedback, sustain, and harmonic content through pickup selection and amp gain staging rather than studio overdubs.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Royal Blood 2014

The debut album is the masterclass in two-piece heavy rock guitar work. Tracks like 'Figure It Out' and 'You Can't Kick My Heart Around' showcase downpicked riff mastery, palm-muting precision, and overdrive stacking that sounds massive without being muddy. Learning these songs teaches rhythmic tightness, tone sculpting, and how to make a guitar function as both melody and rhythm instrument.

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How Did We Get So Dark? album cover
How Did We Get So Dark? 2017

This album deepens Kerr's technical approach with more varied tunings, legato passages, and dynamic range. Songs like 'Lights Out' and 'Hook, Line & Sinker' introduce more melodic guitar work and show how to balance heavy riffs with expressive single-note phrases. It's ideal for guitarists wanting to expand beyond pure rhythmic heaviness into nuanced tone expression.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

Fender Telecaster Plus (primarily on debut recordings), later switching to Suhr Modern or custom specifications. The Telecaster's single-coil brightness paired with heavy overdrives created Royal Blood's signature cutting tone. Later instruments maintain single-coil or single-coil-influenced pickups to preserve articulation even when running high gain, avoiding the mud that humbuckers can introduce with extreme overdrive stacking.

Amp

Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier (early recordings and tours), later transitioning to Suhr amps or similar high-headroom, tight-response amplifiers. The Rectifier's natural compression and harmonic saturation complemented Kerr's overdriven tone beautifully, adding warmth without sacrificing articulation. The amp is typically run at high master volume to allow power tubes to compress naturally, with gain and channel settings adjusted for controlled sustain.

Pickups

Single-coil or single-coil-derived designs (Fender Custom Shop or Suhr pickups) with output ranging from 5-6k, chosen specifically to cut through overdrive without losing string-to-string definition. The lower output maintains dynamic response and prevents the compressed, milky tone that high-output pickups create with extreme gain stacking. This allows Kerr to hit hard on downstrokes while preserving subtle finger articulation on legato passages.

Effects & Chain

Fulltone Fulldrive 2 or Mosky Overdrive (primary gain stage), stacked with a second overdrive for texture and sustain, occasionally using a compressor before the overdrives to even out pick dynamics. Volume pedal for real-time tone shaping and dynamic control. Notably minimal effects chain (no reverb, delay, or modulation in signature tone), keeping the focus on amp tone and pick-hand control. Later setups may include subtle reverb for ambience, but the core sound remains overdriven guitar into a loud amp with minimal processing.

Recommended Gear

Fender Telecaster
Guitar

Fender Telecaster

Royal Blood's Telecaster single-coils cut through heavy overdrive stacking without losing string definition, delivering the bright, articulate aggression that defines Kerr's signature tone. The single-coil design prevents the muddy compression that humbuckers introduce with extreme gain, preserving dynamics from picking nuance to full-force downstrokes.

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier
Amp

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier

The Dual Rectifier's natural compression and harmonic saturation add warmth to Royal Blood's overdriven sound while maintaining clarity at high master volumes. Running the amp loud lets power tubes compress naturally, giving Kerr controlled sustain and punch without sacrificing the articulation essential to his minimalist, gain-stacked approach.

How to Practice Royal Blood on GuitarZone

Every Royal Blood song page on GuitarZone includes a built-in Practice Toolbar. No app to download, no account needed. Open any song, then use the toolbar to slow the video to 0.5× speed, set an A/B loop around the exact riff you're working on, and jump between song sections instantly.

The toolbar appears automatically on every guitar tab, lesson, and cover page. Pick a song below, hit play, and start practicing at your own pace.

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