If you follow my reviews, you know that I’m a sucker for this power metal stuff that comes out of Europe. Power metal bands there seem to be like Starbuck’s locations here in the US, on just about every street corner. And I’m glad for that, because I dig this stuff. One of these days I’m going to spend a summer in Europe, going to all the big outdoor festivals and listening to power metal until my head explodes. And I will die happy.
Here we have Royal Hunt, and their new release “Show Me How To Live”. Very good stuff indeed. These guys have been around for 20 years now and this is their 11th release. Can’t say I’ve heard all 11, but then again, how many bands can one actually keep track of and listen to everything they release? Maybe you can do that, but I’m limited to just a few bands that actually do it that much for me.
Royal Hunt are best described as a symphonic, progressive metal band. At least I think so anyway. They are a Danish band, but this album marks the return of American vocalist DC Cooper, who performed on 2 previous releases but then went on his way to other things. He is a very talented singer and his voice is perfect for this style of metal. He has a good range and hits all the right notes in all the right places.
The music is very well written and performed. The opening track, “One More Day”, is a standout track for me. I really liked the way the song started with a theme, then built up and worked that theme back in forth for the duration of the track. Other tracks that stood out to me are “Hard Rain’s Coming” and “Angel’s Gone”. They provide some good variation on the album. A lot of times power metal can suffer from all the tracks being the some sort of mid-tempo slog, so that by the time you finish listening to an album nothing really stands out. These tracks provide some good tempo changes, subject matter, and some excellent playing.
My favorite track on the album is “Half Past Loneliness”. This song has one of the catchiest melodies I’ve heard in a while and I found it stuck in my head all the time, even after just a couple of listens. And there’s a killer guitar solo in there, too, so how can you go wrong?
One of the best things about writing these reviews is getting to catch up with a band that you haven’t heard from in a while and see what they are up to. I’m really glad to have heard this release by Royal Hunt and to hear that they are still pumping out some quality metal. Check this one out my friends, you will not be disappointed. Unless, of course you are the average American metal fan who doesn’t really dig power metal. Give this one a shot, though, it just might make you a believer.
-- ODIN
