ROYAL HUNT

Going For Baroque...

...With Burning Passion.

Confession- I had never paid close attention to Norwegian progressive metal quintet ROYAL HUNT- a truly veteran outfit formed by composer/keyboard maestro André Andersen somewhere around 1989 and its only continuous member- since I often found silly and pretentious the works of other bands with neo-classical flourishes, choirs, and sing-along anthemic choruses. shredding guitars, and power-metal touches.

Until now.

This review of ROYAL HUNT's 16th studio album, "Dystopia, Part 2"- and I admit that coming into the two part conceptual work based on Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel, "Fahrenheit 451" midway (since there IS a Part 1 as well) might be a little strange- has changed my mind.

A lot.

Sadly, But Carry On Anyhow

Unfortunately I was not able to locate lyrics to this album, but I was immediately impressed with a number of things about Dystopia, Part 2- the quality of compositions, the layers of complexity, the melodicism, the musicianship, and the cohesion of the overall concept embodied in Part 2.

And it's unrelenting (or almost) intensity.

I remember maybe four decades ago attending a Jean-Luc Ponty concert, and perhaps 2-plus hours later stumbling out of the theater (stone cold sober) as though in a near coma. It was almost relentlessly loud and intense. I was numbed. There was little room to 'breathe' during the concert, and it took a toll despite the high level of musicianship during that concert.

I felt the same after several listenings to Dystopia, Part 2.

So Much, So Often

The album opens with scratchy-needle on vinyl record album-sounds, and flowing classical music begins to intrude. This brief interlude and a few others are examples of "room to breathe", and they are NEEDED.

After this opening stage-setter, track two begins the epic, symphonic, busy, layered wall of sound that I thought characterizes the music. Please don't take this as criticism, simply as the way I experienced it, alongside the exuberant drumming, the masterful guitar work, the many-layered and varied keyboards, and the expressive vocals that somehow avoided over-emoting, while conveying many emotions nonetheless.

Often in the album there are passages in which energy and busy-ness subside, only to begin to build and renew and re-engage.

Things are on a grand scale, always storming Mt. Olympus, always striving for majesty and epic power. Those quieter moments like in "Left In the Wind", in which grand piano and voice give us a passage of considerable emotional heft, yet, quietly, reflectively, in turn allow us to think and experience and feel the music.

This track, one of my favorites on the album, has a surprisingly blues-y/ big-band jazz-y feel, that somehow manages to be stately and elegant and solemn and lovely all at once.

Themes

Although I did not have access to lyrics, I could tell from what I could parse through the headphones I use that lyrics reflect the intensity of Bradbury's intentions and concerns while writing his novel. Book-burning. Censorship. Mind- numbing attachment to digital "stuff" and screens and "entertainment". Strong shoves toward conformity. The grave and life-threatening drive by authoritarians toward conformity. The risks and hazards of living with strong convictions in counterpoint to broader society.

All these enacted and embodied by the musical tapestry ROYAL HUNT manages to weave, with virtuoso playing and singing from ALL participants. For me it's hard to pick a 'hero' among this unit, since each so clearly has strengths upon strengths as musicians and collaborators. One musical theme will emerge, and (since I used the term 'Baroque') get embroidered and elaborated and interwoven amongst the layered and complex keyboard work, the superb rhythm section, and the searing guitar work.

Other Features

ROYAL HUNT uses cinematic sound effects- the train station, a man running, tolling bells, shattering glass (Kristallnacht?), perhaps even the entire track "The Key of Insanity" in which the band somehow musically reveals what insanity might feel like, be like.

For me personally, since I love classical music, the symphonic flourishes and touches were a strong and wonderful feature. Examples are liberally found within the entire album, but I especially liked "Scream of Anger" in this regard with the added pleasures of intricate unison runs with guitar and bass and keys, and the kind of orchestration with addition of full rock band I first heard from Jon Lord and Deep Purple.

So Let's Sum Up

This is a powerful, majestic, grand; and INTENSE album that has changed my mind about ROYAL HUNT. I rate it a strong 4, maybe 4.5 out of 5 grandiloquent stars, an "excellent addition to any progressive rock music collection."

Dubbed "the longest EP in history" (at nearly 70 minutes of length), The Watchers is an EP released by Danish melodic prog metallers Royal Hunt to accompany the release of their 6th full-length album The Mission. The EP contains one new track that was not included on The Mission but is part of the same concept (a musical soundtrack for the book "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury about the colonization of Mars by Americans who flee the troubled, war-ridden Planet Earth). The EP also contains four live tracks and four re-recordings of songs taken from the band's earlier albums. Seven of these eight songs are particularly interesting because they feature for the first time new singer John West who had joined the band only two years prior, following the departure of the band's previous, much beloved singer DC Cooper.

The previously unreleased track, "Intervention", appears on the EP in two versions (a full version and a radio-edit version). The full version is a great, 14-minute epic, proggy track that in my opinion is almost better than any of the songs that were actually included on The Mission album. The track moves through different, recurring parts, some of which instrumental while others feature the great John West at the mic. His singing here, as on The Mission, is impeccable: warm, soulful but powerful and epic when needed. The song features a very nice chorus that reminds me of the Paradox album, partly because of its lyrics describing an imaginary dialogue with God. The whole song is actually more in the spirit of the music the band released on Moving Target/Paradox (symphonic, mid-tempo, classically-inspired prog rock/metal) than the more metallic and fast-tempo songs included on The Mission. This perhaps explains why "Intervention" was left out of the full-length release since, sonically, it does not match the rest of the tracks of that album very well. The song also sounds better produced than the material released on The Mission, whose sound I found a bit too compressed, thin and plasticky. The drum sound in particular is much improved as it feels less artificial and processed than the sound on The Mission album (drummer Allan Sørensen is credited a playing on the EP, while he did not appear on the full-length album). Overall, this is an awesome track that alone is worth the price of the EP.

The other tracks are live or re-recorded versions of songs from earlier albums, mostly Paradox, Clown in the Mirror and Land of Broken Hearts. The most interesting aspect of these tracks, as I mentioned earlier, is that these are among the first recordings of these songs with John West behind the mic. West is an amazing singer, there's no doubt about it. However, his voice is quite special - warm, bluesy, and soulful - and it truly shines when the music gives him space to breathe and he can explore the space between the notes. Some of these earlier songs have been written for a different type of vocalist, like DC Cooper, whose performance is much tighter and more sober. The same goes for the earlier songs written for the band's original singer Henrik Brockmann who sang on Royal Hunt's first two albums. This is to say that, although it is interesting to listen to John West performing tracks taken from the band's first four albums, the outcome is not as amazing as one would have perhaps expected. Especially on the live versions of "Flight" (from Land of Broken Hearts) and "Message to God" (from Paradox), West sounds a bit uncomfortable and out of place. He lacks the grit that Brockmann put in his performance and the tightness of DC Cooper. He does better on "Epilogue" (from Clown in the Mirror) that is indeed a more spacious song that is more apt to West's expressive, modulated vocals. The same applies to the studio re-recordings, where West appears more in his element on soulful tracks like "Clown in the Mirror" than "One by One" (from Land of Broken Hearts).

Despite this, The Watchers remains a nearly-essential release if you are a Royal Hunt fan. The unreleased track left off The Mission is worth alone the purchase of the EP, being a song that is probably superior to all the material released on that full-length album. The live and re-recorded tracks are interesting because of the presence of the new singer John West and more generally because they contain some of the most beautiful tracks the band has ever written ("Message to God", "Epilogue", "Clown in the Mirror", "Legion of the Damned").

[Originally posted on www.metal-archives.com]

The Mission is the ambitious 6th full-length album by Danish melodic prog metallers Royal Hunt. Based on the book "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury, The Mission is a conceptual piece of work consisting of 13 interconnected tracks, each revisiting a chapter in Bradbury's book about the colonization of Mars by Americans who flee the troubled, war-ridden Planet Earth. Of these 13 tracks, five are actually short interludes (mostly instrumental), so there are only seven "proper" tracks on the album. Some may feel this falls a bit on the short side of what a full-length should be, but I do not mind as the alternation between shorter and longer tracks actually works well in terms of the storytelling the concept album sets out to do.

Musically, the album follows in the footsteps of previous Royal Hunt's releases, albeit with a few surprises and tweaks to their trademark sound. The songs are still firmly rooted in the classically-inspired blend of melodic progressive metal the band has been playing since their beginnings. The classical music influences are most evident in the song structures and in the way the bass, drums, guitars and keyboards play contrapuntal melodies and rhythms that bring to mind the way instruments are used in a typical classical orchestra. The progressive elements lie more in the contamination of influences (classical music, metal, hard rock) and in the ambition of the concept than in the mere display of technical wizardry (though in each song there is ample space for dazzling guitar and keyboard solos by Andre Andersen and Jacob Kjaer). As in all Royal Hunt's releases, The Mission retains a strong focus on the vocals, which are the "instrument" of choice for carrying the main melody of the songs. On The Mission, John West makes his second appearance with the band after his debut on Fear. John has a splendid voice, deep and soulful but at the same time powerful and with incredible range. On The Mission, his performance is very strong, especially on the most melodic tracks like the ballad "Days of No Trust".

However, The Mission also shows some elements of progression relative to the typical Royal Hunt's sound. Frist, at various places Andre Andersen experiments with a swathe of futuristic sounds on his keyboards that are unusual for his style and refreshing, and sit well with the sci-fi theme of the album. The way the backing vocals are processed (very compressed, almost alien-sounding) also keeps in line with the concept. The drums also sound quite plasticky and processed. This may be again intended, to give a more futuristic feel to the music, or the result of the fact that the band actually used sampled drums on the album, this is not clear to me (drummer Allan Sørensen quit the band just before the recordings of the album, two guest drummers are mentioned in the album credits list, Kim Johanneson and Kenneth Olsen, but I am not convinced they actually played on the record). Either way, the drum sound is not fantastic on this album and, more generally, the album sounds a bit too compressed and thin, especially by today's (2021) standards.

Another difference is that The Mission features more muscular, hard-hitting and fast-tempo songs relative to a Royal Hunt's typical album. In fact, The Mission may be the most "metal" record the band has released up to this point in their career. Tracks like "World Wide War" or "Total Recall" would not sit out of place in a progressive/power metal album, actually. Unfortunately, I feel that, with this shift towards more metallic musical territories, Royal Hunt lose a bit of the "magic" that one can instead find on their more symphonic rock oriented albums like Clown in the Mirror, Moving Target or Paradox. Another problem I have with The Mission is that the tracks tend to be a little bit too homogeneous, there is not much variation across the seven longer tracks of the album ("Days of No Trust" is probably the track that stands out the most because it represents a change of pace and style compared to the other six). On the positive side, this again sits well with the interconnected, concept-based nature of the tracks. But, on the other hand, this uniformity makes The Mission an album that is a tad less adventurous and exciting to listen to.

Overall, for these reasons, The Mission is not my favourite Royal Hunt's record. It is nevertheless a strong album by a band that at the time was at the apex of their creative powers, and remains today one of the finest in the band's catalogue.

[Originally posted on www.metal-archives.com]

ROYAL HUNT or how not to forget this epic prog metal classic omniesque album!

1. Fear wow the intro, it moves quite a bit between Hollywood sound effects, Lee in the distance, Valkyrie, a little Carmina, screams, bells, the 2 minutes are reached to bring us to a symphonic prog metal , oh the riff and the bass, it's strong and heavy, airy yet; we feel the cold in the austere plains, André's synth in front, the riff so yes we are still in the beginning, 5 minutes for John to come and put his suave voice; prog metal more here; most of all this Dantesque sound, this bass, this Scandinavian drums which cuts more than it hits for a grandiloquent air; synths with twirling violins; so why so many more well it's just perfect in the genre, put yourself aside, it's machine gunning 2. Faces of War follows, more metallic with a sound reminiscent of ARAGON; the symphonic keyboard with its volley of violins echoes the melodic metal of classical inspiration, heavy on light or how RONDO VENEZUELO comes to gig with them; a very good solo from Jacob then the progressive variation, the one that kills, sending the listener to the stratospheres, the bold, Olympian sound again; but how did this album miss out on musical stardom? The flights of sound are like a walk in a field in August and the raising of a flock of partridges! The cinematic finale before its time brings 3. Cold City Lights and its potential hit, deluge of hard FM sounds, well everything is said, you have to love this genre of the 80s and accept the much fuller sound; they do not invent but boost, they also put classical sampled instrumentation back in the spotlight; I find the dancing madness of BON JOVI on one side too; another worked ending leading without firing a shot 4. Lies for their hit album, much less progressive but showing their sonic state of mind; a neo-classical flight on a hard riff, a genre between the Holywood-metal dear to RHAPSODY and the progressive metal of DREAM THEATER; here everything is simpler, melodic, the riff is taken like a wave reminding you that in prog there is progress, advancement, opening and break; the heavy sound on a PRETTY MAIDS for those who follow, you see that it moves quite a bit; the break belongs to the hard brought directly, the keyboard of André, mastermind of the group, does the rest

5. Follow Me yes follow the John the one who replaced the famous DC Cooper, follow him for this super-vitaminized ballad, for this flight which always remains the suave-marshmallow title which breaks a little too much with the dynamite effect of the other titles ; the most is the dithyrambic keyboard solo followed by the guitar-epic one; brief rest 6. Voices then intervenes; yes we went back to the 16th and 17th centuries with classy orchestration; the soaring violins mingle with choirs from now on, the pure progressive spirit of the beginning of the album is lost in favor of a typical break, not bad in itself but much more predictable; now we are more on a sovereign MALMSTEEN than anything else, good but less blood 7. Sea of Time continues ah I breathe better again; the clock, the water, the bell, the cuckoo, this ethereal synth, this riff I find the ROYAL HUNT from the beginning; the progressive climb is that, hard or symphonic or something else, two minutes of pure happiness; John sets the tune going, sheared between riff and backing vocals for a grandiloquent final title, amplifying the big prog metal turbine sound; programmed break with guitar solo, but how well he strummed... and the arrival of the waterfall keyboard flooding our ears is pure joy; yes, a group apart who knew how to create a concept for this album to drink in one go even if the ending is more consensual.

Magna Carta madness continues!

Thru the catalog, it's always a joy to discover something fresh, like a new band. Because of some obscure fate, I never heard of Royal Hunt before. Hold on, there's some impressive facts here: how many albums did they sell? Almost 2 millions?! And the keyboardist claims to have Royal Familiy descendance?! I wasn't sure if I had to laugh or be impressed. Well, the music got me impressed!

The concept of a religion arriving in a foreign and shatter the universe of the poor Primitives is great. The little speeches the First Nations (after River of Pain) saying they will go to their villages and hurt their people is still relevant. It's mind blowing on how history's repeating over and over again.

Setting aside the clever concept, the execution is superior. I mean, if you want to make decent metal, you have to walk the walk with your instrument. And they do. Oh boy, they do! What strikes me the most is the blue blood keyboard player's chops, they're all over the place with satisfying orchestration and mouth watering solos. Also I cannot pass the opportunity to praise the capacities of D.C. Cooper as a singer. He's the man. He's the Ubermensch...and he needs a shirt. Please, give this poor beggar a few coins to buy a t-shirt or something.

I'm frankly happy to have found such a cast of entertaining performers. The album is not 'aggressive' (although sporting the metal tag) but abound in catchy melodies that sticks in your head for days. It's an extremely catchy record filled to the brim and why it's not a classic is beyond me. In 1997, I was knee-deep into Britpop, no wonder this badboy slipped my attention. I also should've dig deeper to find this gem instead of trying to like Falling Into Infinity, the snooze fest Dream Theater gave us during that period.

Give this record a chance, it's just too good. Now that's what I call a majestic album!!

Royal Hunt's paradox finds the prog metal pioneers on fine form, with the band at points capturing the stateliness and majesty of the most refined classical music in a metal context. Their house style of prog metal is based less on technicality than the likes of Dream Theater, and includes some power metal influences here and there, but somehow they avoid taking things in a cheesy direction but maintain an appropriately rich and evocative tone for the deep subject matter they attempt to tackle. Keyboardist Andre Andersen is the star player, with an orchestral touch to his keyboards which really brings the album's sound together.

Oh my, I remember buying this VHS at the end of 1997, right after I got to know this fantastic multinational band. It had around three hours of running time: the entire 2 hour concert, plus backstage scenes, interviews, the video for Wasted Time, the making up of that video and other touring shots. It was recorded during their Moving Target tour and features most of the songs from that album, plus a lot of earlier stuff More than anything else this video shows that the band was very fortunate to have chosen american singer D. C. Cooper to replace the original danish frontman Henrik Brockman. Because if Brockman was very good, then Cooper was simply brilliant. Not only he had a better, more versatile voice, but he was also a great stage performer, helding the audience at the palm of his hand throughout the show.

Certainly the rest of the band was not far behind. Indeed I was really amazed not only by their incredible skill and professionalism, but also for their energy and moving around. And, for the icing on the cake, the two backing singers provide for Cooper many terrific three part harmony singing that really set them apart (no, it was not country-ish, but very unique). Put it together with a strong set list and you have one of the best live performances I´ve seen in my life. Although Cooper was really a newcomer, it is very clear that the band was cooking by the time they recorded this concert. So it is not surprising that they recorded their best album ever, Paradox, right after this tour (unfortunately without drummer Kenneth Olsen, who quit before the recordings started). I really enjoyed Andre Andersen figure surrounded by keyboards in a pose that is striking similar to that one of Rick Wakeman. But sound-wise Andersen has a unique style of songwriting and playing.

Highlights? The blistering rendition of Stranded, the symphonic progressiveness of 1348 and the powerful and inspired performance for Epilogue comes in mind as the best moments in an excellent show. The three songs played in the acoustic set are also a plus, the band proving they could make Age gone Wild sound much more superior than any other version they had made of this tune. Even a lesser song like Time shines after they provide a new vocal intro. There are some solo moments, but they are all short ones and unbelievably, the weaker is Jacob Kjaer´s guitar solo (not a bad one, though). Bass and drums solos are linked together in a very nice duel that is really more interesting than those boring ones we have all seen too much.

In recent years I´ve seen this concert appear as a DVD bootleg, unfortunately without all the extras. I really hope they will release a complete, remastered, version of this outstanding release. It showed the world one of the most original and interesting bands to surface in the 1990s. Their mixture of melodic hard rock, symphonic prog and traditional heavy metal, plus those vocal harmonies is something never heard of, even if their music is quite accessible. Royal Hunt is really one of a kind

Rating: something between 4.5 and 5 stars. Highly recommended!

Danish band ROYAL HUNT have been a going concern for more than a quarter of a century, and as such merits a description as a veteran band at this point. They have twelve studio albums to their name, with a thirteenth just about to hit the market. "A Life to Die For" is their twelfth studio album, and was released through Italian label Frontier Music in 2013.

Royal Hunt is a band that have always been described as residing somewhere within the metal spectrum, with power metal, progressive metal and symphonic metal the most common descriptions given. The albums I've come across earlier have, arguably, been of a more progressive metal vein, but in the case of this 2013 production I'd say that the greater majority of the compositions have the strongest ties to the symphonic metal genre, with power metal as the main undercurrent.

As one would expect from a veteran act, this is a production that is well made and well produced, the technical aspects of this album have a high standard with impeccable quality. While perhaps not all that important, these aspects of a production does elevate the material quite a bit, the difference between a poor and a pleasant or a pleasant and a good end listener experience can often be tracked down to this, even if mix and production will always be coating and gloss that adds a final sheen. In this case these are important aspects of the album though, and not only due to the quality of the compositions as such, but due to the richly layered arrangements employed throughout that demands a detailed attention to mix and balance.

The material here basically revolved around digital orchestration and lead vocals. Royal Hunt have a strong lead vocalist in D. C. Cooper, and they make sure that his qualities are emphasized throughout. The rich orchestration courtesy of keyboardist André Andersen is still the main dominating trait though, his keyboard arrangements a key aspect of all compositions throughout.

The songs actually appears to revolve a bit too much around the vocals and keyboards as I experience it though, as the bass, drums and guitars are toned down quite a bit and with little room for other instrument details to add subtler details or depth to the songs as they unfold. Combined with a smooth production and a certain tendency to singalong chorus sections with more of an AOR orientation the end result is, at least for me, just too smooth for me at times. Pleasant and well made, but lacking that slight edge that elevates the total experience to a higher place. Details and depth are the key words I guess, as well as a lack of marked contrasts.

But when the blend does get a few additional details added in, the end result does become all the more striking. The dramatic impact surges that is a mainstay feature on opening track Hell Comes Down From Heaven a good example of that, as are the richer orchestrated movements and stronger emphasis on quirkier instrument details on concluding and title track A Life to Die For. Both of those creations represent the 2013 edition of Royal Hunt at their best in my opinion, and should be regarded as the signal tracks on this CD as far as I'm concerned.

At the end of the day I find "A Life to Die For" to be a somewhat uneven production, always smooth and elegant, but for my personal taste somewhat lacking in the details and sophistication department for this album to come across as a vital and vibrant production. Those with a taste for progressive rock and metal exclusively may want to approach this one with a bit of caution due to that, but if you have a strong affection for symphonic metal, and a particular taste for well produced, orchestration dominated specimens of that kind in particular, then this CD can be regarded as a fairly safe purchase option for your musical needs.

DC Cooper's return to Royal Hunt for the release of 2011's Show Me How to Live reignited interest in this Danish progressive metal band for many listeners, and with 2013's A Life to Die For, that interest is likely to remain ignited. Royal Hunt's twelfth album doesn't deviate much from their established blend of neo-classical power metal, melodic hard rock, and progressive metal, but the songwriting here is strong enough to make for a solid listen from start to finish.

Although the title track and "Hell Comes Down From Heaven" easily stand out as highlights (I've always found that Royal Hunt's best compositions tend to be their longest), the rest of A Life to Die For is well-written and well-played. Keyboardist André Andersen's detailed symphonic arrangements are quite impressive, and DC Cooper's vocal performance demonstrates why he is such a fan favorite when it comes to melodic progressive metal.

Royal Hunt's bombastic and symphonic approach to progressive metal doesn't usually connect with me on the same level that bands like Fates Warning and Dream Theater do, but there's no doubt that these Danes are really good at playing the music that they play. Fans of Royal Hunt will definitely want to check out A Life to Die For, and this isn't a bad place for newcomers to start their journey either.

I was so surprised by appearance of Royal Hunt in the Progarchives "hot list" (it, after all, is a retro metal band, and the worst kind of retro - cheesy 80s style), so decided to chip in. Havent got my hands on the new one yet, this is about the one from 2011.

Royal Hunt play highly orchestrated (the band leader, and only constant presence, is the keyboardist) power metal, with a couple of concept albums and epics that warrants its inclusion here. Actually it's amazing they are still around and haven't lost creative spark. Now, they do release weak albums for time to time, making think that they will be forever relegated now to the nostalgic tour circuit, but then BOOM! another album that is so strong. Show Me How To Live is one of such redeeming albums. Save for the title song maybe, it's not really prog, but just so energetic and infectious that you should jump up and start air-guitaring immediately, even though its more about the synths and vocals than the guitars. You'd think that for a cheesy metal band the concluding track titled Angel's Gone would be a wimpy ballad. Nope. Another boisterous rocker.