Customer Reviews

Mission

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'll start of with this caveat. I have until I bought this CD never heard a Royal Hunt song. So I will be unable to grade the quality of this CD compared to its predecessors. It might have the advantage that I have no preconception towards what a Royal Hunt should sound like. The slate is clean. The album will solely be judge on its merits are lack of.

The quick review is that this CD is that it's criminally underrated.

The "Mission" is a concept album based on Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles. It's not necessary to have read the novel or to follow the story line of this album to enjoy it. Although at the very least understanding the story does give the music a greater emotional resonance. Especially on songs that close the CD such as "Days of No Trust" and "Total Recall".

This CD is very much in the progmetal category. The keyboards are very prominent and played with mastery by Andre Anderson. He makes good use of the keyboards from them being nice and melodic such as in "Judgement Day" to straight out aggressive as in "World Wide War". The opening to "World Wide War" Anderson plays a wonderful classical influence interlude called "Metamorphosis" that is breathtakingly beautiful.

John West's vocals are simple amazing. The man has great range and power. Witness some of his shrieks near the end on "World Wide War". His vocals are definitely been influence by past metal singers. He also does a terrific job on the slower more emotional songs such as on "Days of No Trust" . Where you can here sadness and melacholy in his vocals that goes melds perfectly with the lyrics.

Jacob Kjaer on guitar is a perfect compliment to the keyboards. He can rip off riff after furious riff but he can also play remarkably well in harmony with the keyboards such as in ":Surrender". He is very versatile and has an excellent mastery of technique. He notably shines on "World Wide War" with its heavy riff and on the intro "DreamLine" that leads in to the start of "Out Of Reach".

As mentioned earlier "The Mission" is a concept album as such you have the main songs and the songs that save as interludes or links from one song to another. There are 6 of these interludes. They range in length from 1:05 to 2:34. Don't let their brevity fool you there are some very fine moments in them. My two favourites I mentioned already are the beautiful "Metamorphosis" and the guitar oriented "DreamLine".

This will sound like a cliché and I have used it before but there is not one bad song on this CD. My favorites include the straight ahead rocker "The Mission", the intense "World Wide War" and the brilliant vocal lines of "Surrender".

In short this is an essential addition to any fan of progressive metal.

The Mission by Royal Hunt is their heaviest album to date. It starts off with Takeoff and goes into the Mission at full force. You know then you are in for one wild ride. It has some slower, mellower songs like Days, and then you have songs like World Wide War, and Total Recall that are probably the heaviest songs the band has ever done. Royal Hunt have done it again with another concept album that in my opinion is equal to Paradox. If this is your first album from Royal Hunt, take the time to really listen to their older stuff such as Moving Target, Paradox, or Fear and you'll see why they are one of the best bands out there next to Iron Maiden, in my opinion. John West's vocals on Mission are superb, don't think they lost anything replacing D C Cooper. This is a must get for any Royal Hunt fan and anybody who likes really great music. Jacob Kjaer's guitar work on Mission is absolutely amazing. He's really underrated and under appreciated. I give The Mission 5 stars.

Considering the talent in the band, Fear was a rather weak effort. The Mission, though, is definitely the most ambitious effort by the band thus far. If you're hoping for something like a cross between Paradox and Forces Of Nature, prepare for disappointment. Seems like the boys have been listening to their Yes, Deep Purple and electronica records. Andersen experiments with Hammond organs, Yes-like chirping keyboard sounds and a drum machine. Not even West can escape the experimentation as the band has him using vocal processors at times. Even though I'm not too big on electronica, I feel it really works here, especially considering the sci-fi lyrical content. RH shows good judgment by not using the techno sounds too often, so still expect a lot of power/prog metal. A lot of the times I find it hard to believe tat the band I'm listening to is RH, but then the backing vocals come around and I know it's them. The band with this album is now a progressive metal band in the true sense. Combining musical elements from their past albums with some drum machines, samples and sound effects, the band's new effort and incarnation sounds surprisingly refreshing.
Highlights: The Mission, Clean Sweep, World Wide War, Total Recall

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I bought this CD on a whim and I have to say it is quickly become one of my all-time favs. The Mission is a concept album in the vain of Rush's 2112. The CD sounds great! The musicianship is phenomenal. Jon West's vocals are extremely good. If you are a Dream Theater or Queensryche fan, you love this CD.

I have been a fan of Progressive Rock and Progressive Metal since the 60's. I love this band and the addition of John West from Artension was a good move. He handles the vocals well and the harmonies are great as usual. There is some great keyboard work and the songs are excellent. This band just keeps getting better with every CD. Loved the idea of a concept album from a great band. Royal Hunt has outdone themselves again.

Released in 2001, the Mission is the second Royal Hunt album with John West on vocals. It is also the second Royal Hunt album to truly live up to the progressive metal label that people keep giving them (Paradox was the other, in case you were wondering).

The Mission is a concept album based on Ray Bradbury's sci-fi tales "the Martian Chronicles". Royal Hunt seems to give their best performance when working around a central concept (again, see Paradox), and the Mission is proof of that. This is a tight, focused album instead of simply a collection of songs. The musicianship is top notch, and the keyboards, while definitely prominent, do not overpower the album. The scattered (and thankfully brief) instrumental interludes are very effective in setting the album's pace and delineating "chapters."

And it pains me to admit it, but John West does an outstanding job with the vocals. I'll probably never be 100% satisfied with anyone other than D.C. Cooper singing for Royal Hunt, but West really delivered on this album.

This one's a winner, folks. It's a solid progressive metal album from start to finish, and is the band's best work since the aforementioned Paradox.

I really enjoy Royal Hunt's music. Paradox is one of my all-time favorite CDs, so I was quite looking forward to hearing "The Mission." Even though this album is very well written and performed (John West has never sounded better), the recording, mixing and mastering is amateurish, at best. Honestly speaking, I have better sounding four-track demos at home. I was tempted to give this CD no more than 2 stars but, in spite of the poor recording, I still enjoy the songs. Only for the true fan...

In my opinion, I rate this CD in the top 20 CD's of all time. Definitely the best from Royal Hunt, although the rest of their CD's are great also. From beginning to end, nothing on this disc is weak in any way. Top notch musicians, and great song writing. I don't know if these guys can do any better than this. Perfect.

I'm writing the review while listening the album to be reviewed and can't help tramping my feet in tact. It is Royal Hunt's best ever released album. It bears all their brand marks - fascinating melodies, quite a hard bass and heavy guitars, strong vocal, fantastic keyboard skills of Anderson. And the Great Concept. I like Bradbury's Chronicles very much, and I always imagined his stories as music. Well, here it is - Bradbury not to read, but to listen to.

It is a must have for anyone who likes metal. If you are already hooked by Royal Hunt - the album is another jewel for your collection. If you have never heard of them - it is the best piece to start with. Once you have The Mission, you are going to buy all the rest, guaranteed. And even if you think metal is garbage, try it - it is simply good music, who cares what genre it is in?

And another thing - read Bradbury, if you haven't done it before :)

Some of the best rock in a long time. Extreme musicianship--great songs.