Search - Royal Hunt :: Fear

Enter John West

Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 08/09/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"You could say that Royal Hunt had something to prove in 1999, after unceremoniously dumping vocalist D.C. Cooper, who was arguably responsible for much of the band's success up to that point. I don't think we'll ever know the real story behind his firing, but the end result is that Cooper went on to a profitable solo career, and Royal Hunt continued as a band, this time with Artension's John West on vocals.



1999's Fear was West's first album with Royal Hunt, and he gives an admirable performance. He has a decent range, and his voice conveys emotion quite nicely. Comparisons with D.C. Cooper are unavoidable though, and to be quite honest West just doesn't measure up. He's a good singer, and if he were following Henrik Brockmann (from the band's first two albums) I'd call him an improvement. But D.C. Cooper's voice is like a force of nature, and those are hard shoes to fill. There's an energy and power on Moving Target and Paradox that you just don't find on Fear.



Overall, Fear is a very solid melodic metal album. The songwriting is on par with Moving Target, though perhaps not at the Paradox level. Musically, the band is as good as ever. More so than on previous releases, the keyboards take center stage on this album, which give it a more progressive feel.



Again, if Fear had followed Clown in the Mirror, it would probably be hailed as the band's best work. Stacked up against Paradox though, it can't help but fall short."