As is the case with many bands that tread progressive metal waters, "Royal Hunt" is far more popular in Japan than they are elsewhere in the world. Capitalizing on that fact, the band released a pair of live album in Japan earlier this decade, efforts that were never released in the United States. Magna Carta Records has done its part to correct that imbalance by releasing "Royal Hunt - Double Live In Japan," a two disc compilation from those Japanese releases.

The first disc chronicles their first tour with D.C. Cooper, back in 1996, and features the band running through its older material. The second disc largely spotlights the "Paradox" album, considered by many as their best release, and is based on "Royal Hunt's" 1997 tour of those islands.

I'd only heard one song from "Royal Hunt" before getting this album, and it hadn't impressed me very much, so the music on "Double Live In Japan" was a pleasant surprise. The band puts forth a decently compelling, neoclassical, metal-influenced version of prog metal, with more than a few tunes sticking in my head long after turning off the stereo.

"Royal Hunt" seems to be led from behind the keyboard racks by Andre Andersen, as evidenced by hard-charging tracks like "Wasted Time" and "Running Wild" on disc 1. The second disc, featuring more recent material, has more variety than the first disc, and is generally better. Opening with the church hymn-like "Ave Maria Guarani," it goes on to include the whirlwind, "Tearing Down The World" (my favorite song in the package), and the nearly eleven-minute "Time Will Tell," with its showcase of bassist Steen Morgensen's skills serving as an introduction.

Despite the technically solid, and at times spectacular instrumentation however, the star of the show is vocalist DC Cooper, who really shines on this set. Unfortunately, his excellence also points toward the biggest flaw with "Double Live In Japan," namely his vocals, and those of female back-up singers Maria McTurk and Lisa Hansen. They sound a little too good for a live album. Cooper might be a phenomenal vocalist in a live setting, and he may have been having a great night on the occasions these shows were captured, but his vocals seem too relaxed, without enough of that live urgency that makes for a great live album.

The same goes for the crowd noises allowed to seep into the mix. There's plenty of crowd presence before the first song starts up, and plenty of crowd between songs, when Cooper shows off his Japanese skills, but it seems the producers simply turned off the crowd during the songs themselves. Again, the effect is one of taking out one of the elements that makes a great live album - that background buzz of excitement generated by a fired-up audience.

The performances themselves are great, but there's a sense of sterility that holds "Double Live In Japan" short of being an enjoyable "live" product.