Royal Hunt is a Danish

progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...

band. The band was founded in 1989 by keyboardist André Andersen in order to combine basic values of classic rock with progressive, current musical elements. The name originated from a painting seen in a museum by Andersen.

History

Royal Hunt is known for creating melodic music with a progressive and symphonic flair. They experienced success mainly in Japan and Europe during the mid-90s with American vocalist D.C. Cooper on their albums '' Moving Target'' and ''

Paradox A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true or apparently true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictor ...

''. Throughout their history the band has experienced multiple lineup changes. In 2007 they acquired singer Mark Boals, who replaced former vocalist John West. In 2011 after requests from fans and promoters worldwide they decided to reunite with their former vocalist D. C. Cooper for a special tour, covering the first four albums of the band. They recorded a new album entitled '' Show Me How to Live'' featuring the returning D.C. Cooper as their permanent vocalist moving forward. Cooper also provided vocals for the 2013 album, '' A Life to Die For'', and again provided vocals on "Devil's Dozen", "Cast In Stone" and "Dystopia – Part 1". In October 2021, the group announced the completion of songwriting for the new album – "Dystopia – Part 2". The album will be released on 28 October 2022. For festival appearances in 2024, the band was scheduled to perform with a line-up including their former lead vocalist Mark Boals and Statement's drummer Daniel Rasch Nielsen. Boals and Nielsen are temporarily covering for Cooper and Johansson due to the latter's scheduling conflicts. The Boals/Nielsen-incorporating lineup will play at Leyendas Del Rock in Spain on August 7 and at Jailbreak Festival in Denmark on August 17. The band was crowdfunding towards the recording of a new EP in 2025. In Japan, the band is famous for the song Martial Arts, which was used as entrance music for professional wrestler

Masahiro Chono is an American-born Japanese retired Professional wrestling in Japan, professional wrestler and actor best known for his 26-year stint with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). As the leader of New World Order (professional wrestling), nWo Japan, Tea ...

Members

Current members

* André Andersen – keyboards, piano, keytar, rhythm guitar (1989–present) * D. C. Cooper – lead vocals (1994–1999, 2011–present) * Andreas Passmark – bass (2009–present) * Jonas Larsen – lead guitar (2011–present) * Andreas "Habo" Johansson – drums (2015–present)

Former members

* Steen Mogensen – bass (1989–2003) * Kenneth Olsen – drums (1989–1996; 2004–2007) * Henrik Brockmann – vocals (1989–1994) * Jacob Kjaer – lead guitar (1993–2003) * Allan Sørensen – drums (1996–2002; 2007–2015) * John West – vocals (1999–2007) * Allan Tschicaja – session drums (2002–2004) * Marcus Jidell – lead guitar, cello (2004–2011) * Per Schelander – bass (2005–2009) (Covered for Andreas Passmark during parts of the tour 2015 and during the tour 2016) * Mark Boals – vocals (2007–2011, 2024 (festival appearances only))

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Land of Broken Hearts'' (1992) * '' Clown in the Mirror'' (1994) * '' Moving Target'' (1995) * ''

'' (1997) * ''

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'' (1999) * '' The Mission'' (2001) * '' Eyewitness'' (2003) * '' Paper Blood'' (2005) * '' Collision Course... Paradox 2'' (2008) * '' X'' (2010) * '' Show Me How to Live'' (2011) * '' A Life to Die For'' (2013) * '' Devil's Dozen'' (2015) * ''Cast in Stone'' (2018) * ''Dystopia'' (2020) * ''Dystopia – Part II'' (2022)

Live albums

* ''

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

'' (1996) * ''Closing the Chapter'' (1998) * ''Double Live in Japan'' (1999) * '' 2006 Live'' (2006) * ''Cargo (Live)'' (2016) * ''2016 Live'' (2017)

Singles/EPs

* ''The Maxi – Single'' (1994) * '' Far Away (EP)'' (1995) * " Message to God" (1997) * ''Intervention'' (2000)

Compilations

* ''The First 4 Chapters... and More'' (Japan release) (1998) * ''The Best'' (Japan release) (1998) * ''The Best Live'' (Japan release) (1998) * ''On the Mission 2002'' (Japan release) (2002) * '' Heart of the City (Best of 1992–1999)'' (2012) * ''20th Anniversary'' (2012)

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Century Media Records artists Danish hard rock musical groups Danish heavy metal musical groups Danish progressive metal musical groups Danish musical quintets Musical groups established in 1989 Magna Carta Records artists Frontiers Records artists Scarlet Records artists