SHOW ME HOW TO LIVE

Royal Hunt has been consistently pumping out well-received melodic progressive metal albums for the past twenty years, and Show Me How to Live is certainly no exception to this trend. Although you could argue that the band's most creative and innovative period is behind them, these Danes still know how to dish out relevant and memorable music in today's melodic metal scene. Their blend of neo-classical instrumentation, melodic choruses, and hard-hitting riffs is inevitably lovable, and while Royal Hunt isn't nearly as original as they were in the mid-nineties', Show Me How to Live is still a fine effort that fans of melodic progressive metal ought to check out.

The main format for Royal Hunt's sound is melodic power metal with symphonic and neo-classical overtones, in addition to numerous ventures into progressive territory. This style may not be groundbreaking anymore in 2011, but Royal Hunt proves that they are still relevant by their compositional abilities and top-notch musicianship. This is a group of fantastic musicians across the board, and Show Me How to Live also sports plenty of killer songs. While the epic title track takes the cake by numerous country miles, everything you'll find on this album is well-composed and highly professional. Aside from the occasionally plastic keyboard tones (which, I guess could be a positive for some listeners), there's really not much to complain about on Show Me How to Live - it delivers plenty of goods, and while it rarely reaches a level of true excellency, this is a damn solid album from all fronts.

People who are hesitant to Royal Hunt's brand of symphonic melodic metal won't have their minds changed by Show Me How to Live, but fans of the band will be pleased to know that they have yet another solid platter of hard-hitting tunes up their sleeves this time. Although I would've liked a few more jaw-dropping moments like those found in the title track, it's still really tough to deny quality like this. 3.5 stars are well-deserved, and Royal Hunt fans would be making a mistake by passing this one up!