ROYAL HUNT – Dystopia

15 Albums Strong

Denmark’s Symphonic Prog Metal legends Royal Hunt hit high marks with their newest release; Dystopia. A great concept album that plays out near perfectly at just under an hour, with catchy melodies and a very good variety of tempos and musical compositions that work as a whole. The band is lead by keyboardist/founder André Andersen with DC Cooper on vocals, Andreas Passmark playing bass, Jonas Larsen on guitars and Andreas HABO Johansson on the  drums. The album also features some stallar performances by guest vocalists: Mats Leven (Candlemass, TSO, Skyblood), Mark Boals (Y.J. Malmsteen, Ring of Fire), Henrik Brockmann (Royal Hunt, Evil Masquerade, N’Tribe), Kenny Lubcke (Narita, Zoser Mez) and Alexandra Andersen (Royal Hunt, JSP).

Cinematic Metal

Dystopia is a well crafted album in the vein of TSO with it’s strong variety of song styles and the addition of the guest vocalists each adding their own special talents to the production. The use of orchestration adds a great cinematic feel to the album, reminding of Rick Wakeman to Yngwie J. Malmsteen, and maybe a mix of both. The musicianship on the album is top notch, as is the production from start to finish.

Favorite Tracks

For this reviewer, the strongest track might be “Eye of Oblivion” with it’s immediately memorable chorus and excellent vocals. “Burn” is also a strong contender as it’s blend of Metal and Classical takes us back to memories of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. Another great song for this reviewer was “The Art of Dying” with it’s grand melodies and great solos that accentuate a well balanced anthem that would sound at home on any Alcatrazz album. A change of tempo to a ballad brings us another fine effort with ” I Used to Walk Alone”.

Final Notes

To start off 2021 with a bang, André Andersen and company have delivered to us a great album in Dystopia. From start to finish, the album keeps you enthralled in its story with its solid song writing, excellent musicianship and lush production. Royal Hunt have given us a strong effort that any self-respecting Symphonic Prog Metal fan would be proud to own.

Lineup

André Andersen – keyboards
DC Cooper – vocals
Andreas Passmark – bass
Jonas Larsen – guitars
Andreas HABO Johansson – drums

Dystopia – Tracklist

01 – Inception ℉451
02 – Burn
03 – The Art of Dying
04 – I Used to Walk Alone
05 – The Eye of Oblivion
06 – Hound of the Damned
07 – The Missing Page (Intermission I)
08 – Black Butterflies
09 – Snake Eyes
10 – Midway (Intermission II)