CLOWN IN THE MIRROR

Although I would like to give every Royal Hunt album I have a 5 star rating, some, just don't live up to the rest. Although this album is classic Royal Hunt I don't think it is as good as Paradox, or Moving Target. Still, it is an excellent addition to any collection, which is why I gave it 4 stars. Clown in the Mirror starts off with an epic symphonic intro that goes into Wasted Time, which once it picks up will keep you hooked and excited till the end. Next, Ten to Life starts out with a catchy western guitar sound followed by steady bass and nice vocals by Henrikk Brokmann. Then comes a Royal Hunt staple, a catchy chorus with harmonized vocals. Later in the album we are treated to a beautiful ballad, Clown in the Mirror. After we get past a brief instrumental we come to a series of songs that I believe may point out Royal Hunt's biggest problem. Although I love their sound they have not strayed from there core sound much in all there years, and this is apparent in tracks 6-9. Although they are all good songs at this point in the album you will realize you either love Royal Hunt or not, but if you do your in luck, because there are a bunch of other albums you will also love. However I don't think Royal Hunt stays as tight between albums as say Symphony X, but the core sound is definatly there. Even though the core of Royal Hunt is apparent through most of their music I still believe Epilouge stands out as an excellent track on the album.

This album is quite a step forward in Royal Hunt´s career, which does not mean it is their best. In fact, prog wise, it does not deliver much, except for the great song Prologue (a hint of their future work) and Wasted Time. The other tracks are more a kind of european hard rock: very melodic, simple, with good arrangements and backing vocals, and some prog influences here and there. Those tunes are more interesting than good. The band seems to be still struggling to find their sound. And, by the last track, they did it. It was my first Royal Hunt CD and I must say I´m fond of it. Still, it is not a good starting point for newbies.

On the path of recognition

The second album of danish band Royal Hunt is a good example how must sounds prog metal combined with symphonic elements the resoult is Clown in the mirror. The sound, manner of interpretation and composing of this album is not far from the next releases Moving target and Paradox, but less good then the albums mentioned before. On this album features on voice Henrik Brockmann, wich is an unknown voice to me till i descoverd this album, he sounds ok, even in places very good like on Wasted time and Epilogue, but he is not even close to DC Cooper who has a much powerful voice. The pieces are well composed and sounds solid, prog metal with a lot of symphonic elements, because of André Anderson keyboard orentation, anyway one of the best keyboard players from prog metal, no doubt. The best pieces are Wasted time, Epilog and instrumental one Third Stage. A good album and enjoyble most of the time, but Clown in the mirror don't reaches the beauty and perfection of the next 2 releases Moving target and the masterpiece of prog metal Paradox.

The Clown in the Mirror is the second full-length studio album by Danish symphonic heavy rock/ metal act Royal Hunt. I was quite surprised by the high standard of music on the debut album by the band and even though the music on that album is not usually music to my taste I rather enjoyed myself listening to that one so I was actually looking forward to listening to The Clown in the Mirror.

The music on The Clown in the Mirror continues the style which was initiated on the debut album. melodic and symphonic heavy rock/ metal with neo-progressive elements is the style of music that Royal Hunt plays on the album. There are as many influences from classic hard rock bands from the seventies ( Deep Purple, Rainbow) as there are influences from eighties keyboard driven heavy rock bands like Europe and Bon Jovi but with an additional neo-classical power metal touch ( I´m reminded of Yngwie Malmsteen´s song oriented tracks a couple of times). The music is not progressive to my ears. It follows the vers/ chorus formula pretty strictly and if you strip away the neo-classical element in the music you´ll find that most songs are basicly simple hard rock tunes. All songs are well composed and very well played though and that´s always a pleasure even though this might not be the most innovative music I´ve ever heard. My favorites on the album are the beautiful power ballad Clown in the Mirror and the last song on the album Epilogue which actually smells a bit like prog-related metal. A big part of the album´s sound are the multilayered choirs which are very well arranged. They are an aquired taste though and some might find them a bit too cheesy for comfort.

The musicianship is excellent. It´s hard not to give a special mention to main composer and keyboardist André Anderson when you write a review of a Royal Hunt album and this time it´s no different. He is a very skilled musician and even though his style can seem a bit overblown ( read: Cheesy) at times his parts are always well played. The rest of the band are also very skilled musicians and lead vocalist Henrik Brockmann has a strong and powerful voice.

The production isn´t as good as it could be IMO. The sound quality on the debut wasn´t that good either and it seems that it hasn´t changed here. Allright but not really good.

The Clown in the Mirror is a good and enjoyable album if you enjoy this kind of music and allthough it´s not an exceptional album IMO it´s well worth a 3 star rating.