SHOW ME HOW TO LIVE

This is my first experience with Danish band Royal Hunt, though they have been rocking since early 90s, actually, this new album entitled "Show me How to Live" is their twelfth studio album, so they have a vast back catalogue. In this album they decided to put seven compositions and a total time of 37 minutes, in which a progressive metal, with some Viking touches and of course symphonic tones, will be heard.

It opens with "One More Day" in which we can appreciate since the first moments those mediaeval touches created mainly by voices and keyboards; and of course, the always inherent power of guitars and drums, sharing that metal-oriented sound. Then a new song appears with a ring phone and a female voice; a few seconds later piano enters in a soft way, accompanied by bass, drums, later guitars and voice, so now "Another Man Down" has truly started. The stories tell share different sensations such as pain, sadness, and hope. Here that female voice also sings, so they make a nice couple. The music is not that powerful, though the heavy sound is still there, but in a lighter way.

"An Empty Shell" starts with keyboards and creates a dramatic, even chaotic sound which is greatly complemented by the other instruments seconds later. So little by little the song is progressing, creating a vertiginous sound that let your imagination fly, because here I can create my own story with images and everything, even with characters and places, so I guess the song succeeded at least with me. After three minutes there are the classic guitar and keyboard solos.

"Hard Rain's coming" starts softer with keyboards and voice, but after 30 seconds it explodes and the energy is shown once again. Then the structure is being built up, with those backing vocals included that make me remind some of those Viking metal bands. The problem I sometimes have with these kind of bands, is that after some tracks I feel the music repetitive, and in moments even boring, but that's just me, who am not really a fan of this genre.

"Half Past Loneliness" is a bit different and by default more interesting. I like the bass sound in the beginning and how the guitar riff comes almost instantly. After a minute the vocals appear and the music slows down a little bit, but then the structure is repeated creating a catchy rhythm and chorus. After three minutes a new guitar riff appears, and then the song finishes with an emotional context.

The longest track is "Show me How to Live" in whose ten minutes the band develops an interesting composition, with good changes in rhythm and mood. Here they gather all their musical elements that we could previously hear, and resume them in this long song, where one can have a mini journey inside Royal Hunt's realm. After four minutes there is an instrumental part where keyboards take the leadership, creating a good atmosphere and sharing different nuances and emotions, I really like that part; then it little by little is progressing, the intensity increases until the guitar riff appears. Later vocals return as well as the initial sound, and it finishes like this. The final piece is "Angel's Gone" which reminds me of the album's first two tracks, with that symphonic-like keyboard-led sound. There is nothing much to add here, actually.

Well I bet this album might appeal to those metal (in its different forms) fans, it has very good compositions and great passages, though as I said earlier, to me the repetition became boredom in some moments, that is why I will give it three stars.

Enjoy it!

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