After a visit from our Norwegian neighbours Pagan’s Mind, we were moving closer to home when Copenhagen based Royal Hunt. This is a band that’s been around forever, and I know their name holds a good status in classic metal, but I also have to admit that this show was my first encounter with them, not only as a live act but even just hearing their music.

“How are you doing, Roskilde Denmark?!”
- Mark Boals (vocals)

The first thing I noticed was that, despite my initial thought on the subject, the entire band was in fact not Danish. Vocalist D.C. Cooper, American, wasn’t able to make it to the show, so instead the band had invited former vocalist Mark Boals, also American, and apparently he had just arrived from Las Vegas prior to this show.
Given that, it was quite impressive to see the amount of energy he got out of his performance. Honestly, the whole band was performing well, but Boals and Jonas Larsen were the ones that stood out with a lot of positive energy, smiles, and a good connection to the crowd. Boals and band leader André Andersen on the other hand were the ones to keep the conversation going between songs, speaking back and forth between each other or just taking turns between different songs. For some reason, Andersen made me think a bit of Joey DeMaio, although not quite as manic in his speeches.

Music was the main attraction however, even there was quite a bit of banter, and the music sounded well. For a first time listener like myself, it did begin to blend into one after a while however. One Minute Left To Live did stand out for me, but even though the band performed well, as mentioned above, it was hard for me to keep the interest up after a while.
For fans of the band, I’d imagine it was a fun thing that they played the Paradox album in its entirety, but since all songs were new to me, that sadly wasn’t enough to keep me interested.
What I had hoped would be an epic new discovery, ended up being a mixed bag of treats, with some good sweets mixed in with a lot of bland ones. Was probably a better gig for fans of the band, but not one they gained any new followers on.

Setlist:

Flight
Half Past Loneliness
The Art Of Dying
One Minute Left To Live
The Awakening
River Of Pain
Tearing Down The World
Message To God
Long Way Home
Time Will Tell
Silent Scream
It’s Over