Friday, August 21, 2015

ROYAL HUNT: ”XIII - Devil’s Dozen”

Rating: RRRR

Label: Frontiers 2015
Review by Kimmo Toivonen

Royal Hunt have been on a winning streak since DC Cooper re-joined the band. After first couple of spins it seemed that ”XIII - Devil’s Dozen” would mark the end of it, but now that I’ve played this more, I’ll have to say that they’re still winning.

This third album since the reunion might not be quite as good as the previous two, but there’s not a lot to complain about either. Okay, there aren’t any super-catchy ”hits” here, but the quality of the songwriting still remains on a high level. Lots of melodies, lots of drama and lots of orchestration. I have a feeling that this album will take a few more spins for me to truly appreciate it.

The album sound BIG, the orchestration is impressive as are the choirs. DC Cooper is still on fire, he’s truly one of the most versatile vocalists out there. At times his vocal acrobatics border on being too quirky, almost in Serj Tankian fashion!

Favourite songs of mine include ”May You Never (Walk Alone)”, the gigantic ballad ”Until The Day” and ”Way Too Late”. I have to mention ”How Do You Know” too - a Royal Hunt song that’s only 3 minutes and 16 seconds long? It’s a rather fun, simple and bouncy number anyway…

www.royalhunt.com
https://www.facebook.com/royalhunt

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