PAPER BLOOD

I think Danish progressive metal band, Royal Hunt is grossly underrated. Royal Hunt, which now has ten albums under their belt, plays a highly melodic style of progressive metal of mostly medium to fast tempo. They have a large, sometimes bombastic, very lush, symphonic sound and usually utilize violins and back up singers if not full orchestras. Band leader, Andre Anderson may not be the best keyboard player in the universe, but I can't think of anybody better - really! One of the things that makes their music stand out from their contemporaries is their long, complex grand introductions, (five minutes on one song) that is uncommon in the Progressive genre or any genre for that matter.

Royal Hunt, while technically not superior to many of their better known contemporaries, such as Stratovarius or Symphony X, I find their music to be more, shall we say, user friendly. While I applaud the latter bands for their musicianship, Royal Hunt seems to be smoother, less jarring and the songwriting, I feel, is superior and therefore easier to listen to.

I think next to Moving Targets, which I reviewed a couple years ago, Paper Blood is Royal Hunt's best album. Almost all of the tracks have found their way onto many of my mixes. This particular release has 10 songs and they are all top shelf. Outstanding songs on this album are Break Your Chains, Not my Kind, SK 983, Kiss of Faith, Paper Blood.

Conclusion

Most Royal Hunt fans believe they released their best music when they featured D.C. Cooper as their lead singer. Cooper left around 2000 under mysterious circumstances and there was a noticeable drop in the quality of their subsequent releases even though John West (Artension), Cooper's replacement, was capable and even sounds like Cooper. In any case, it was a big mistake as Royal Hunt struggled through three less than stellar albums, until brand new release, Paper Blood, which is actually quite good, sans Cooper.

Royal Hunt seem to have a loyal but limited following here in the states. This is a shame because, as mentioned, they are at least as good as all of their better known contemporaries. Telling you about Royal Hunt isn't the same thing as hearing them for yourself. If you trust me, buy this album, Moving Target or Paradox, you won't be disappointed, or find some way to hear one of them first, then buy it.