Royal Hunt
"The Mission"
(Century Media)

Royal Hunt now have their sixth album out, their second with vocalist John West (who replaced D.C. Cooper a couple of years back), and their first with Century Media. These guys, a progressive/melodic hard rock band from Denmark, have been making waves (especially in Japan) for several years now, and they could be on the verge of a breakthrough here. This new album is a concept album based on Ray Bradbury's book, "The Martian Chronicles". I've never read the book, but after hearing this album, I might just check it out, because I liked this album a lot! Royal Hunt are a very talented group, and they play and write very well, and really kick ass on some tunes, too. John West has a very powerful and clear voice, and all the other members are excellent at their respective jobs, as well. As I said, they play progressive metal/melodic hard rock, and take influence from bands like Rush, Queen, Triumph, Dream Theatre, Helloween, Queensryche, Fates Warning, and classical music, as well. "The Mission" begins with the intro, "Take Off", and then goes into the title track, an epic, Rush-influenced song. This is followed by a short instrumental, "Exit Gravity", which leads into "Surrender", a straight-ahead hard rocker. The next song, "Clean Sweep", is really just an extension of "Surrender", so I don't know why they made it a separate song. After this comes a Queen-influenced ballad called "Judgement Day". The next song is another instrumental, "Metamorphosis", a short piano piece courtesy of keyboardist Andre Andersen, which then brings us into another hard rockin' tune, "World Wide War". Another short, sweet instro is next with "Dreamline", which features some guitar noodling from Jacob Kjaer. Then, we have "Out Of Reach" up next. This is a pop-rock tune that actually reeks of Bon Jovi! I'm serious, there's some serious hints of "You Give Love A Bad Name" in here! But I mean that in a GOOD way, so don't let that put you off! Next up is yet another instrumental, "Fourth Dimension", a fast-paced tune very much in the Helloween vein. After this comes a very nicely-played ballad, "Days Of No Trust", and following this is the album's closer, "Total Recall", another Helloween-style rocker! To be honest, this was my first taste of Royal Hunt, and I liked them very much. They are an excellent band! What have I been missing out on? I've got to get their other albums! And I recommend the same to anyone who is a Royal Hunt fan, or likes progressive/ melodic rock or power metal, you won't be disappointed! I predict great things for these guys!

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