Royal Hunt

X

Price: 11.95

Review / Notes: Originally released exclusively to the Japanese market several months ago, thanks to Italian label Scarlet Records, Europe; and indeed the rest of the world, finally gets a chance to hear the new Royal Hunt album at an affordable price. Aptly titled ‘X’, this is the tenth all new studio offering to bear the Royal Hunt imprint, the first since 2008’s brilliant ‘Collision Course’. According to band leader and main songwriter Andre Andersen, ‘X’ came out of a shared love for 70’s music, a bond which binds all those involved in the band. Now, I don’t know about you, whilst there are obvious elements if you look closely enough (everything from Rainbow to Queen to Uriah Heep to Genesis to Kansas if truth be told), to these ears Royal Hunt has always symbolised a unique brand of symphonic hard rock, one that has set trends and lead from the front rather than being content to merely follow. So, I have to admit I was a tad intrigued at Andersesn’s statement, although having lived with ‘X’ on and off for the past couple of months now, I can kinda see his point. Noticeably less grandiose and overblown that the Royal Hunt of old (although thankfully, there are still plenty of bombastic neo-classical motifs popping up throughout), this is much more hard rock than symphonic metal, albeit one that still bears all the hallmarks of the Royal Hunt we’ve come to know and love over the last decade and a half. Like so many musicians over the years, Andersen has obviously been profoundly influenced by Ritchie Blackmore, and there are times when the spectre of Deep Purple stands sentinel like above these songs – check out the likes of ‘Army Of Slaves’, ‘King For A Day’ and ‘Blood Red Stars’ and see for yourself. If anyone could drag that ‘Fireball / Machine Head’ sound into the 21st century my money would be on this lot to make it believable. Like ‘Fear’ back in ’99, ‘X’ sees Royal Hunt make a bold attempt to broaden their musical horizons whilst retaining the essence of what makes them so special, but this time round the results are much more upbeat and powerful. Andersen is a tad more restrained than usual, but vocalist Mark Boals and guitarist Marcus Jidell easily pick up the slack. It may take a couple of spins for you to get used to the revamped sound, but once again ‘X’ sees Royal Hunt deliver as only they can! (D.Cockett)