DC cooper

Expecting nothing less than greatness from the veteran vocalist and main attraction of high profile band, Royal Hunt for many years, DC Cooper slipped a little gem to his all fans in the shape and sound of a solo album. Titled simply "DC Cooper" and sporting a truly delicious cover, featuring his beautiful eyes and blinding good looks, if you dont pick it up on name alone, female fans will no doubt have any problem shelling out cash just for the cover. But cover aside, the music is a good enough selling point to allow the album to stand on its own. Its a showcase of his powerful and unmistakable vocal prowess. The songs themselves were written by the team of Cooper and Ostby, with the music styled after Royal Hunt, minus the over-the-top keyboard doodlings, that frankly, I often find to be quite annoying, even if it is a staple and central point for the signature sound of Royal Hunt. Using many members from the band Pink Cream 69, all of whom are superior musicians, fitting perfectly on this album. The guitarist, Tore Ostby, is formerly of Conception, and is a tight shredder, with a gorgeous guitar sound, that rips out solos effortlessly and provides riffing ranging from emotionally stirring to downright vicious.

Powered by a great overall album pacing, it flows nicely from the two upbeat openers, "Dream" and the catchy straight forward cover of "Easy Living" right into the heart stopping "The Angel Comes", which is arguably the best song that DC has ever recorded. Genius use of violins, a heavy bottom end, in-your-face guitar riffs, and little synthesizer sounds spiced throughout to add that extra personality and dimension. The overall feel of this song can simply be described as overwhelmingly huge. A true classic. "Until the End" slows it down a little, nicely flowing and rich with melody, before the pace is sped back up with the frantic "Within Yourself", which could have been a bit more melodious, but it will appeal to speed metal fans. "Three Generations" sits in a comfortable hard rock sound, and has all the melody that "Within Yourself" lacked. "Chained" is a Virgin Steele-esque piano/synthesizer instrumental passage, that's as charming as it is haunting. Emotionally disturbing if a bit out of place, even so its a delightfully surprising piece to give the album a feeling of more depth. "Freedom" opens with a full blast of instrumental virtuousity, which is frightenly similiar to Yngwie Malmsteen's "Krakatau". Throughout the song, it switches back and forth between lighter piano-vocal-drum sections and the heavy "Krakatau-ish" parts, toss in a big chorus, a little bluesy section to build up to a wah-infested solo suited nicely to the mood which transforms into a squealing shred fest before fade into ethereal synth and vocals. "Take Me In" has a unique bassy opening, very different from anything else on the album, and keeps that as the basis of the song. Its not bad, but not a favorite either. Another haunting opening comes in with "Forgive Me", it almost reminds me of the goth instrumental music from Castlevania. Lasting not very long, but creates an unusual mood, and flows into another beautifully vocal driven song, DC Cooper is in fine form here, his voice soaring to the heavens and back as the music changes behind him from heavy to softer, showcasing him perfectly. "Whispers" lets DC hit his higher range and stay there, slightly shrill at times, but it always comes back down to his full deeper sound. Great chorus on this one too. Doubling as a grand finale and an album highlight is the showstopper half-ballad, "The Union", which mines the recent trend in using female vocalists in metal songs, something that I hope is kept up. We've had Shadow Gallery and TNT recently, and I think this adds so much to these ballads, and the addition allows the song itself to be taken into a new direction. Emotionally captivating guitar and piano, let this song fly high, and the vocals are also nothing less than spectacular. Its called a half-ballad, because even this one gets bottom heavy after about 2 and a half minutes of the gentle lull into serenity, the heavier part is broken up with lead female vocals, tons of piano, and it spirals back up into a rocking frenzy. Then DC Cooper takes the lead again. The slower ending pace with the choral vocals provided by a huge chorus, and the lapping acoustic gives the song a strange twist and ends the album satisfyingly. There's no mistaking DC when his voice breaks out above the cushy sound of chorus.