Demon Hunter- The World is a Thorn

Demon Hunter– The World is a Thorn
Solid State Records, 2010

Let’s be real.  Metalcore isn’t the most popular genre among metal heads, simply because it can get real generic sometimes.  This album is not the case.  The World is a Thorn brings something new and refreshing to the genre.  This Demon Hunter’s fifth album, and in my opinion there best.  They have made a vast improvement over their last effort, Storm the Gates of Hell.

This CD starts off great and finishes great.  There isn’t a dull moment on the album.  The first song starts off with a pretty cool kind of atmospheric melodic guitar lead, which slowly builds up to a brutal metal onslaught.  Then out of nowhere comes this really awesome sounding melodic chorus, which t he band tends to do a lot on this album.  The second song is a bit boring and kind of the weak spot on the album, it almost sounds like they are playing the same riff for the majority of the song.  The third track is a bit different, with virtually all melodic vocals, but all metal in the instruments.  Another very interesting song is track 6, the title track.  It’s probably the heaviest thing the band has ever done.  Some parts of the track are on the verge of being thrash metal!  Not to mention, the chorus is just plain out sick!

This album is a must buy for any fan of metalcore.  The mix of heaviness and melodic choruses make for one very interesting listen.  There is also some really cool guest vocals from some very well know vocalist in metal such as Björn Strid, Christian Älvestam, and Dave Peters.

The highlights for me would be “Descending Upon Us,” “Collapsing,” “Just Breath,” and “The World is a Thorn.”

By Matt Marciniec

[rating:5.7/7]