paradox
paradox
| 1. "The Awakening" 2. "River of Pain" 3. "Tearing Down the World" 4. "Message to God" 5. "Long Way Home" 6. "Time Will Tell" 7. "Silent Scream" 8. "It's Over" ***BONUS TRACKS*** 9. "Martial Arts" 10. "The Final Lullaby" |
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| Recent Releases Live 1996 (1996) Closing the Chapter (1998) Fear (1999) |
Related Albums (in members): Andre Anderson - Changing Skin (1999) DC Cooper - DC Cooper (1998-1999) |
| Paradox: neo-classical Dream Theater? Well, yeah -- kinda, sorta. Royal Hunt would be best described as a neo-classical/progressive/symphonic metal band. To my ears, Royal Hunt is a pretty even mix of Dream Theater, Shadow Gallery and neo-classical metal. People often compare Royal Hunt's neo-classical side to Yngwie Malmsteen. But it is the keyboards, courtesy of Andre Andersen (Royal Hunt's primary songwriter), that give Royal Hunt a neo-classical sound, not the guitar. The guitar is more straight forward, kinda reminding me of George Lynch at times. |
| The first six songs on Paradox are the standouts. The first five tracks are almost five parts of the same song but each stands on it's own. The mystical and ominous "The Awakening" is the intro to the album and it leads into "River of Pain" -- a rousing, pompous tune with catchy vocal melodies. "River of Pain" leads us to track three, "Tearing Down the World", a powerful, epic song. "Message to God", Paradox's fifth track, is another great tune that opens with a fabulous bass solo. "Long Way Home" ties up the five-parter with a musical return to the intro, "The Awakening". This piece is more quiet and introspective than it's predecessors -- very moving, very emotional. Tracks seven, eight and nine -- "Time Will Tell", "Silent Scream" and "It's Over" -- are all solid songs. "Time Will Tell" is especially good. All three follow the same pattern as the previous songs on Royal Hunt -- pompous, sometimes epic music and catchy vocal melodies. The two bonus tracks -- "Martial Arts" and "The Final Lullaby" -- are both okay. "Martial Arts" is a near-two minute instrumental that moves at the speed-of-light. It's a tastefully done but really not my thing. And "The Final Lullaby" is ordinary (the only song on the album not written by Andre Andersen). |
This is a very good cd which borders on
greatness and achieves it from time to time. |
