Review Royal Hunt - Show Me How to Live 2011

Tracks
1. One More Day
2. Another Man Down
3. An Empty Shell
4. Hard Rain's Coming
5. Half Past Loneliness
6. Show Me How To Live
7. Angel's Gone

Band:
André Andersen - keyboards
D.C. Cooper - vocals
Allan Sørensen - drums
Andreas Passmark - bass
Jonas Larsen - guitars

Discography:
Land of Broken Hearts (1992)
Clown In the Mirror (1993)
Moving Target (1995)
Paradox (1997)
Fear (1999)
The Mission (2001)
Eyewitness (2003)
Paper Blood (2005)
Collision Course: Paradox II (2008)
X (2010)

Guests:
Kenny Lubcke, Maria McTurk, Alexandra Popova, Michelle Raitzin - backing vocals

Info:
Produced by André Andersen
Mixed at RoastingHouse Studios in Malmö, Sweden
Recorded at NorthPoint Studio, Denmark.
Mastering by Jan Eliasson at AudioPlanet in Copenhagen
Album cover by Kai Brockschmidt

Released 2/12-2011
Reviewed 26/11-2011

Links:
royalhunt.com
myspace
youtube
frontiers

Danish band Royal Hunt are releasing their eleventh studio album with Show Me How to Live, which is said to mark a return towards the more classical Royal Hunt sound. They have reunited with the singer of that era, DC Cooper who of course was also singing on what is generally considered to be the band’s magnum opus, Paradox. I can agree to the fact that Paradox probably is the best that Royal Hunt have managed this far, but it is not the only great thing they have done. With the amazing new line-up, the fans as well as the critics, are about to get a fresh taste of the powerful and rejuvenated Royal Hunt, at least if we are to believe what the label has to say about it. It appears as though most of the critics (in fact all I discovered when researching this album) has been agreeing with this and the ratings have been very high. So, what about that eleventh album then?

First of all, it is pompous and royalist hard rock or metal with symphonic undertones as well as a slight hint of progressiveness, I have seen that they are often labeled as progressive metal so I guess you might call it that as well. The sound is majestic and clean and I would say that they have polished it rather well, but it still carries this sense of rock music. It is not that heavy, they seem more focused on melodies and a sense of majesticness rather than the heaviness. Fans of the band will notice the difference in vocalist when Mark Boals is replaced by DC Cooper, DC has a rougher and more metallic voice than Mark and I think that is a welcome replacement for many fans as it brings the sound more back towards the Moving Target/Paradaox era. The songs are of a quite varied character without ending up being incoherent, I think it not being overly long helps with this. The album has seven tracks and it plays for a few minutes past the forty minute mark.

Second of all I think this album opens in one of the best ways possible with One More Day which is a majestic song with choir singing the choruses and it feels a bit like an epic tale is being told in this opus. The following track One Man Down is another good track which great melodies and a very good chorus, which is a thing that is ongoing through the albums those very good choruses. Following One Man Down are two tracks that doesn’t do much at all and are quite forgettable in comparison with what else we get on this album. Track five Half Past Loneliness is a good track with great feel and chorus and the same goes for the title track which unfortunately is a tad on the long side though. The final track Angel’s Gone is a fine ending. So I would say that this album is good and I am very positive towards it, no track is bad and the sound is Royalistic, melodic and powerful.

Thirdly, if you like Royal Hunt’s most commonly popular era with albums like Paradox then I am quite sure that you will enjoy this album as it is a nod back to that era but also with a more modern touch. I would probably not hail this as something better than Paradox but it is very good, catchy, clever and well written, that a good sound takes Royal Hunt a long way and I may not be quite as positive as most reviewers I have read but still very positive.

Most reviewers seem to agree that it is a return to former glories and a very strong album that Royal Hunt has put together and though it may not be of the same quality as the Paradox and the best of the band it is still an album that takes them back in time. Back in time to when knighthood like from the gentleman on the cover was commonplace, when heroes walked the streets and honour was something kept. A time when people were polite, a time long gone in other words, their royalistic, majestic, melodic hard rock music is a tribute to times past as well as it is something modern and exciting. Reviewers may say that Show Me How to Live is a return to the band’s greater times, I say that Royal Hunt’s music finally feels exciting again.

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Royal Hunt Show Me How to Live

Royal Hunt
Show Me How to Live