Alberta rock trio, Royal Tusk, have released their new single, “Hated.” It comes from their third full-length album, Altruistic, due February 23, via the MNRK Heavy record label. During recording at Alberta’s Audio Department studio, vocalist Daniel Carriere suffered a year-long health battle from a blood clot in his lung, losing over 20lbs and barely able to speak. Check out the new track and read more about their story below.
Pre-order Altruistic here.
Stream “Hated” here.
“Sandy (bassist) and Quinn (guitarist) helped me through the entire experience,” Carriere said. “These songs were written prior to this life-changing event, but they still tell a story of struggle, suffering, uncertainty, courage, and watching your back. It’s bizarre how that happened. When I think of them now, they definitely illustrate what we all went through.”
With an unwavering determination, the band faced highs and lows that pushed them to the brink, including an almost career-ending illness that threatened to shatter their dreams. Throughout their trials and tribulations of friendships, brotherhood and tenacity prevail. In the documentary (Do No Wrong – The Making Of Altruistic), witness the raw emotion, sweat, and imaginative determination as they pour their hearts and souls into creating what is undeniably one of the most powerful rock albums of the decade. It’s a story of passion, triumph over adversity, and the creation of a musical Tour de force that will redefine your perception of rock ‘n’ roll and the human spirit.
Royal Tusk has already released three singles from this record including, “All My Life,” featuring vulnerable verses giving way to a riff-boosted refrain with words of encouragement, then there’s “Head Up,” Carriere’s emotionally charged vocal delivery with a head-nodding guitar groove while, “Relegate” stands out as a different kind of love song. Carriere says, “It’s about slipping away and losing your ground in a relationship like you can’t hold on.”
More from Royal Tusk:
The Alberta trio consists of Daniel Carriere [vocals], Quinn Cyrankiewicz [guitar], and Sandy MacKinnon [bass]. They fuse hypnotic hooks to hard-hitting riffs offset by untethered rhythms and undeniably honest lyrics. In 2014, the band buzzed out of Edmonton with the Mountain EP. They evolved across releases such as DealBreaker [2017] and Tusk II [2018]. Among many standouts in their catalog, “Curse The Weather” generated 11 million Spotify streams followed by “Aftermath” with 7 million Spotify streams. They toured with Pop Evil, Monster Truck, Slash, and Big Wreck, and performed on the 2020 ShipRocked Cruise with Beartooth, Halestorm, and Alter Bridge to name a few. One moment, they’ll serve up an earthquake barrage of distortion only to incite a bold stadium-size singalong in the next breath.