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Rating: What a beautiful reality Royal Hunt is. The band's roots go back to the distant 1989, in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. Born thanks to the keyboardist André Andersen, the band immediately stood out for a sonic freshness that had (and still has) few rivals in Europe. It would be reductive to define them as power metal, symphonic rock or hard rock, because the group has demonstrated an excellent expressive ability right from their debut "Land of broken hearts" where minimal characteristics of the aforementioned genres surface in works that are never trivial. After a good initial album, they faced the difficult task of maintaining the group's name by creating a work worthy of its predecessor. The Danes returned to the studio, and in 1993 they released their second full-length titled "Clown in the mirror".
Let's make it clear from the start: it's not a masterpiece, but it still deserves attention. You immediately appreciate the playful and ironic tone of the compositions that "oppose" other bands of the period that instead focused on darker themes and sounds. This is one of the secrets of the album and partly of the band's discography: their innate ability to make everything light, without unnecessary overused twists. Simple music, well played and, above all, direct. The album is more complete than its predecessor also due to the addition of a second guitar, entrusted to Jacob Kjaer, which contributes to increasing the taste for melodic exploration already hinted at in "Land of broken hearts". Thus, despite some empty passages and excessive repetition, "Clown in the mirror" flows wonderfully with some pieces that deserve to be remembered. The excellent opening "Wasted time" is followed by "Ten to life", another good example of healthy melodic hard rock. But the highest quality level is reached with the title track, splendid in its refrain, a characteristic point of the song, as splendid as "Bodyguard": light, engaging, and where you can find the absolute irony with which Royal Hunt approaches their music.
If you want about forty minutes of good music, without particular worries and without sonic upheavals, this album is absolutely for you. It ranges from hard rock to power metal, without forgetting AOR and some '80s pop rock passages. All under the banner of irony, lightness, and melody.
Rating 3 and a half.
1. "Intro - Wasted Time" (5:38)
2. "Ten To Life" (3:37)
3. "On The Run" (3:15)
4. "Clown In The Mirror" (4:33)
5. "Third Stage" (1:47)
6. "Bodyguard" (4:13)
7. "Legion Of The Damned" (5:02)
8. "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" (4:12)
9. "Bad Blood" (3:56)
10. "Epilogue" (5:59)
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Running Wild (05:09)
I'm just a number, I don't know my name.
Unknown faces a part of the game.
Out in the desert the madness begins,
Who's talkin' mercy? We're playin' to win...
Better run around, there's no easy way out,
If you loose - take a stand,
So do whatever you can - again and again.
Running wild like creature of the night,
We're born to run - we never trust the light.
Running wild, we're so afraid to try,
We're all alone and everyone is blind,
Running wild...
You'll start the fire and livin' on a lie,
Rats get fat while good men die.
They got you running to follow the track,
You'll face the trouble with fear on the back...
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Other reviews
By Hellring
Land of Broken Hearts turned out to be a real surprise to my ears, where hard rock pleasantly fits into the double bass typical of power.
The metal of Royal Hunt is an artful blend of the typical elements of power with the freshness and catchiness of hard rock.
