Royal Hunt - A Life To Die For

Progressive Metal
Frontiers
2013








1. Hell Comes Down From Heaven
2. A Bullet's Tale
3. Running Out Of Tears
4. One Minute Left
5. Sign Of Yesterday
6. Won't Trust, Won't Fear, Won't Beg
7. A Life To Die For

Royal Hunt's last album Show Me How To Live was a pretty exciting one for me. It wasn't their best release ever (though it was very good), but it featured the return of DC Cooper to the band. DC has always been my favorite Royal Hunt singer so that was big for me. The album itself was a grower that I'd probably rate higher now than when I first reviewed it. The songs weren't very outside the box or as experimental/interesting as Royal Hunt can get, but they were melodic and powerful. Still, I went into this one hoping the band would get a little more adventurous with their songwriting this time than trying to make Paradox again.

Well, for better or worse this is much of the same. The sound on A Life To Die For is similar to the last album which is similar to the DC Cooper stuff that came before. The vocal melodies seem sort of familiar, the music sounds much as it has, and the heavy on the strings orchestration continues to show up in the background. If you've heard Royal Hunt with DC Cooper this album isn't really going to shake your expectations. This is the sort of melodic progressive with a hint of power that they've always done. The problem is that once again the band feels to reach outside the box and this does feel kind of rehashed. Pretty much the exact problem I'd feared this album would have.

Besides the familiarity, there are some other problems that strike me in regards to the songs though. The general style may be very recognizable, but there are other issues that hold some tracks back. Hell Comes Down From Heaven's chorus seems rammed into the music and doesn't really fit the flow of it for one thing, but even more than that, the song is a bloated one at nine and a half minutes. It really didn't need to be that long as far as I'm concerned. Running Out Of Tears is also worth noting as sounding just too sugary sweet for my ears. That chorus is so overblown happy I think it may have given me diabetes. Sign Of Yesterday is a better song, but also suffers from a bit too much sugar, so to speak. None of these songs are really bad, but they do have elements that hold them back from being better.

Overall, this is an alright album for fans, but it breaks no new ground and doesn't offer any song I can call extremely memorable. It's a pleasant enough listen in that the music is well executed, DC is a good singer, and this is passably melodic and smooth, but this just doesn't offer anything exciting. This is just a little too cookie cutter for me.

Highlights: One Minute Left To Live, A Bullet's Tale

Rating - 3.0/5