Frontiers
2010
1. Episode X (Arrival)
2. End Of The Line
3. King For A Day
4. The Well
5. Army Of Slaves
6. Shadowman
7. Back To Square One
8. Blood Red Stars
9. The Last Leaf
10. Falling Down
11. Epidose X (Departure)
Royal Hunt's last album, Paradox II: Collision Course, is one of those albums I'd probably rate higher in retrospect. The thing with reviews is you can only have so much time with the albums before you want to write a review and get it out. Then there is that 'growth' factor which can take awhile. The bottom line though is that I loved the last album, even if it took a bit for Mark Boals to fully click with me in particular.
With this album the band had stated they wanted to draw on some of their roots/classic rock influences, etc and I can hear a lot of that in the finished product indeed. I think the combination of being on Frontiers (which is in large part known for it's melodic rock/metal), having Mark Boals in the fold, and this conscience effort to draw on older rock influences all led the band in the same sort of direction. You can still hear Royal Hunt's sort of touch to the music, but in large part this one feels much more like a melodic rock/metal album than the epic progressive album that Paradox II was. I find X a pretty good listen, but it does lack that extra something in both creativity and power that the last one had and that's a little bit of a let down for me. This seems to focus more on smooth melodies than ever really kicking ass or even grand atmospheres. That being said there are some catchy groove riffs, like in the song Army Of Slaves, which I dig. Really the all out melodic rock songs have some solid hooks at times, even if they're not exactly what I came into this looking for.
The bottom line would be that this just isn't as grand and epic of an experience as Paradox II was, but it is none the less not a bad album. Just not as classic as the previous. I'm sure this is still worth picking up for Royal Hunt fans.
Highlights: Army Of Slaves, Back To Square One, End Of The Line
Rating - 3.5/5
2. End Of The Line
3. King For A Day
4. The Well
5. Army Of Slaves
6. Shadowman
7. Back To Square One
8. Blood Red Stars
9. The Last Leaf
10. Falling Down
11. Epidose X (Departure)
Royal Hunt's last album, Paradox II: Collision Course, is one of those albums I'd probably rate higher in retrospect. The thing with reviews is you can only have so much time with the albums before you want to write a review and get it out. Then there is that 'growth' factor which can take awhile. The bottom line though is that I loved the last album, even if it took a bit for Mark Boals to fully click with me in particular.
With this album the band had stated they wanted to draw on some of their roots/classic rock influences, etc and I can hear a lot of that in the finished product indeed. I think the combination of being on Frontiers (which is in large part known for it's melodic rock/metal), having Mark Boals in the fold, and this conscience effort to draw on older rock influences all led the band in the same sort of direction. You can still hear Royal Hunt's sort of touch to the music, but in large part this one feels much more like a melodic rock/metal album than the epic progressive album that Paradox II was. I find X a pretty good listen, but it does lack that extra something in both creativity and power that the last one had and that's a little bit of a let down for me. This seems to focus more on smooth melodies than ever really kicking ass or even grand atmospheres. That being said there are some catchy groove riffs, like in the song Army Of Slaves, which I dig. Really the all out melodic rock songs have some solid hooks at times, even if they're not exactly what I came into this looking for.
The bottom line would be that this just isn't as grand and epic of an experience as Paradox II was, but it is none the less not a bad album. Just not as classic as the previous. I'm sure this is still worth picking up for Royal Hunt fans.
Highlights: Army Of Slaves, Back To Square One, End Of The Line
Rating - 3.5/5
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