Royal Hunt
Show Me How To Live

With easy-going tones and catchy melodies, Royal Hunt have distanced themselves by changing, experimenting, winning, and failing. Now, after twenty years of their career, the experience accumulated is enough to allow the Danes to produce albums like "Show me how to live," which is a work that returns to being personal, excellently played, and flawless.

In fact, the power metal of their beginnings has dwindled over the years, and the best episodes from the five Danes emerged precisely when this move away from their origins took full shape ("Paradox," 1997). Then came some good works, others less so (notably "Eye Witness" from 2003) before returning to good quality levels with "Paradox II: Collision Course." But the real turning point that changed the dynamics in the Andersen and Cooper household was the album "X," released in 2010. It combined all of the Danish band's characteristics, from melody to a taste for seventies rock, all rendered in a modern form thanks to a crystal-clear production and a renewed compositional and symphonic taste. A simple yet almost perfect work finds its faithful companion in "Show me how to live," which debuted in November of last year, 2011.

A frankly ugly cover should not deceive the listener: the content is not cheap power metal with swords, dragons, and forgotten castles but rather refined hard rock filled with progressive taste. Most of the "new" work is done by the keyboards of André Andersen, the group's leader: he weaves the plots thanks to good songwriting, even if his contribution sometimes borders on polished pompousness. A venial sin overshadowed by the extraordinary vocal abilities of D.C. Cooper and the guitar work of Jonas Larsen, punctual, precise, and never too intrusive. The marriage of these elements generates tracks like "Another man down," "Half past loneliness," "Hard rain's coming" and the long title track: pieces that show us a combo in perfect form, with clear and well-developed ideas.

"Show me how to live" is an album that flows wonderfully and never risks becoming boring, a merit undeniably owed to good but not excellent songwriting. Overall, this album is proof of a top-notch reality in the European rock scene: they guarantee quality, symphonic taste, and an excellent final result. The name, the moniker, the booklet may deceive, but the music does not.

1. "One More Day" (6:12)
2. "Another Man Down (5:14)
3. "An Empty Shell" (4:32)
4. "Half Past Loneliness" (5:36)
5. "Hard Rain's Coming" (5:12)
6. "Show Me How To Live" (10:05)
7. "Angel's Gone" (5:11)