Review Summary: Dance around the candle like a butterfly,
Can you tell me why?
In the middle of 90's, heavy metal was somewhat dead as a genre. Grunge had taken over and "nu-metal" was rising strong. Alternative rock was popular as well , when heavy metal had reached an all -time low, before its rebirth between 1998-1999. Even huge metal bands were producing material of lesser quality, like "Load", "Cryptic writings" or no material at all (Judas Priest, Manowar etc).
To cut the story short, things were not looking up and this release was an "oasis" to all this. I still remember the chill down my spine when listening to "Last goodbye" on airplay, for the first time... It was like an instant "apocalypsis".
Royal Hunt are based in Denmark and their key master mind is André Andersen, keyboardist and main song writer. The band back then, consisted of him and also of D. C. Cooper – lead and backing vocals, Steen Mogensen – bass guitar, Jacob Kjaer – guitar and Kenneth Olsen – drums. The american vocalist D.C. Cooper is an impressive "tenor" also known by his personal works and releases with "Silent Force".
After searching the tags following this band, I can't really say that I totally agree with the "prog metal" label. Royal Hunt deliver neo-classical hard rock/heavy metal music of top quality with many symphonic and some progressive elements. Their sound is for sure influenced by the 70's hard rock scene and by 80's neoclassical acts, like Yngwie Malmsteen.
To most people, this band is unknown and since there aren't any other reviews, i will proceed to a short song by song approach to give some extra insight to what is happening here:
The opening track "Last Goodbye" is a magnificent anthem, warmingly inciting the listener with its violin intro to a majestic composition featuring heavy guitars, melodic vocal lines, female backing vocals that enhance D.C. Cooper's superb singing. Followingly, "1348" makes an impression with its keyboards and atmosphere, "Makin' a Mess" is a highlight for sure, with the bridges playing a key role, "Far away" goes on by a slower tempo and "Step by Step" is a welcome surprise with its groovy rhythm. "Autograph" is the instrumental track in this album which proves once again how accomplished as a musician, Andersen is. "Stay Down" and "Give it up" add two more highlights and "Time" with its slow intro and great high pitched scream by D.C. concludes a masterpiece.
Special credit must be given to the lyrical themes as well, for giving the listener the opportunity to focus on some aspects of life, concerning personal emotions, concepts and behaviors. The production is a bit polished, but it suits the symphonic/hard rock/metal aspect and highlights the exceptional backing vocals as well as the main ones. Solos are technically accomplished and pleasurable and the whole album trully aspires inspiration.
This is a release for the quality rock audience. Pure musical excitement, hands-down. An underrated band for sure, but still their presence nowadays proves that they have grown their own fan-base. Recently, after some vocalist changes (including top singers as John West and Marc Boals) D.C. Cooper rejoined the band and they sound in a very good form too. Worth to check them out!
