Royal Hunt: Show Me How To Live

Royal Hunt, the veteran hard rock band from Denmark whose music is self-described as being "melodic with a progressive and symphonic flair," recently released their 11th studio album Show Me How To Live. Perhaps I am missing something here, or it's just my not being acclimated to the music scene in Denmark, but this has to be one of the worst efforts I've ever heard. Sitting here in my reviewers chair, where I was initially excited and optimistic about the prospect of hearing something new and progressive, which was largely due to my liking of the cover art - a knight, fully clad in armor, preparing to do battle while a town burns behind him, I soon was left feeling disappointed, and frankly sick with the repetitive nature of this album. It's almost as if Royal Hunt got sidetracked and ended up in some sphere where the only music that passed as hard rock was the type of stuff that you'd hear on a Medieval Times commercial. Ya know what I mean?

All in all, D.C. Cooper's lead vocals are tired, dated, and altogether irritating, and I think you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who disagrees with this sentiment. This, combined with a boring arrangement of guitar licks and unnecessary keyboards, makes for an overwhelmingly stodgy listening experience. The only positive, and believe me I searched far and wide for even the most microscopic hint of goodness in this album, is that, production-wise, Show Me How To Live is far superior to its predecessors.

Save your money and please show me how to make it stop.

Track Listing
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

Added: December 11th 2011
Reviewer: Wesley Smith
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 3538
Language: english

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