Demon Hunter
Demon Hunter is the debut album by the band of the same name, released in late 2002 and picked up by my hands from Fishpond five years later. Having recently discovered the Solid State Records and its metal scene, the ambiguity of the name “Demon Hunter” had me interested right from the beginning – in particular, the interpretation – A demon who hunts or One who hunts demons?
From the outset of this blatantly metal album, Demon Hunter decide that subtlety is simply not the answer. Hit ‘em with a crunching opening, prominent drumming and some growls. Seperate the true listeners from those who picked up the album by mistake – If you’re going to like Demon Hunter, you’ve gotta be familiar with yell-growling vocals and other metal influences. Let’s not kid ourselves – There’s a reason Demon is in the name. Wherever there’s some kind of supernatural battle involving demons, it’s brutal. Expecting anything less is naïve.
Having said that, I feel the need to clear something up – as harsh vocals go, those found on Demon Hunter are actually quite recognisable. While the semi-shout/semi-growl has enough brutality to thrust DH into what I would class as Extreme Metal, on the scale of one to brutal; they’d be lucky to make a 5. On the flip-side of the vocals, the clean excerpts are quite catchy & melodic, and are often backed with some growls for effect. These are most prominent in the choruses, with the odd song deviating from this format.
When it comes to the musical side of Demon Hunter, the drums are quite decent, there’s some quite catchy drum riffs amongst the album, and they’re fun to play. The guitars, I’m not so familiar with – not being a guitarist myself. There is sufficient crunching, the chords are fairly original, although a fair few are power chords, but there are no solos. Turns out the flavour of metal Demon Hunter decided to start with didn’t involve this staple technique metal bands have depended on for years. The strings and are quite effective in their short appearances, adding a perhaps haunting atmosphere to the songs. Overall, I rate the musical talent on Demon Hunter as fairly impressive; certainly not unbeatable; but well done for a debut.
I must admit I’m not one to look too closely at lyrics – perhaps explains my tolerance of harsher vocal styles; Various songs across the album have memorable refrains, but there is no recurring line or specific references that stand out across the whole album. The style is always first-person, often speaking about issues like spiritual warfare and holding strong in beliefs – so if you hadn’t yet recognised that the album artwork is a demon’s skull with a bullet-hole in its forehead, you’ll see that the band’s name is explained in the lyrics.
Tracklisting:-
- Screams Of The Undead [4.34]
- I Have Seen Where It Grows [3.14]
- Infected [3.08]*
- My Throat Is An Open Grave [3.54]*
- Through The Black [4.27]*
- Turn Your Back And Run [3.48]
- And The Sky Went Red [0.29]
- As We Wept [3.42]
- A Broken Upper Hand [4.29]
- The Gauntlet [6.56]
* Singles, released 2002-2003
In the album’s liner notes, the tracks are divided into four “Chapters” – Letters from the Seventh War(1-4), The red Wasp/The everlasting Death(4-6), Love and Grace for Fallen Souls(7-9), and The Awakening(10). These chapters don’t divide the music as such, rather they give depth to the artwork, made to look like a book. The band members themselves are not credited, only those involved in the production of the album.
Infected was the first single released for the band, and has a suitably melodic vocals for the chorus with catchy lyrics, backed by a little harsh vocals. The Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Breakdown structure also works well for the band’s first single, and hence this isn’t the last time we will see this structure with Demon Hunter. The video also appeared on MTV2’s HeadBangers Ball:-
The other singles Through The Black and My Throat Is An Open Grave are significantly less well-known – not that they are at all inferior – but neither have music videos. The former is harsher than the main single and has some decent drumming, while the latter is more of a power ballad, sporting only clean vocals.
I would place Demon Hunter into the spectrum between Melodic Metalcore and Alternative Metal.
Rating: After some careful consideration, I came to the conclusion that rating systems are inadequate and some things… are best left unrated.
Demon Hunter was formed in 2000 by brothers Don and Ryan Clark. Spawned from the Seattle hardcore scene, yet influenced by 90s Roadrunner Records bands such as Sepultra, Pantera & Machine Head, DH has undoubtedly put a unique twist into Solid State’s back-catalogue.
