I used to have a love/hate relationship with Demon Hunter. On one hand I really liked how they took the best elements of hard rock and metalcore and blended them together for mass consumption. On the other hand though I really did not like just how mainstream Demon Hunter was and how nearly every song had to have a chorus and every album had to have a couple of ballads on it. One thing I could never argue about however, was the fact that Demon Hunter is original. The band was compared to Slipknot in their early years, but any similarities were purely cosmetic. Demon Hunter sounds like Demon Hunter and over the past 10 years their efforts have become more and more endearing to my ears.
Demon Hunter’s 6th studio album True Defiance continues in the same vein as 2010’s The World is a Thorn. The modern Demon Hunter plays a more metal influenced metalcore style that incorporates traditional guitar solos, clean singing, electronics, and screamed vocals. The album begins with a bang with the song Crucifix and is the only song on the album that does not feature any type of clean singing. One thing that is very noticeable is that the drumming is more complex here than on previous albums. Drummer Yogi Watts has come a long way since his debut on The Triptych. The song My Destiny is easily the stand out cut on the album and features higher pitched screams that are a relatively new discovery for lead vocalist Ryan Clark, they sound really good here and I hope to hear more of them on future albums. The album features two ballad songs that are just alright in comparison to the ballads on previous albums. Dead Flowers is a great song, but does not really stand up to older Demon Hunter songs like My Heartstrings Come Undone, Carry Me Down, and 1,000 Apologies. Despite this small complaint Demon Hunter has delivered an aggressive album filled with catchy hooks that you will find yourself singing along to at all hours of the day. All of these songs are delivered with top notch production values and will not disappoint a listener’s car stereo system. There aren’t really a lot of ways to objectively criticize Demon Hunter’s performance since the screaming is always intense, the guitar work is always masterful, and the singing is pitch-perfect. The only complaint I really have on this album is that the slower songs are less memorable than they have been on previous albums. Although this may not deter hardcore Demon Hunter fans, it could serve as a disappointment for those who shelled out extra money for the special edition of the album. The special edition features two bonus songs that are also slower paced songs, but also suffer from not being memorable. This would cause the album to drag on at the end because the listener would be hearing three slow and not very memorable songs to end things off. This would be a sharp contrast since the rest of the album features faster and heavier songs. The heavier songs in comparison are excellent and comprise the majority of the tracks so fans of heavier music shouldn’t feel ripped off.
Lyrically Demon Hunter is not afraid to tell it how it is. Songs like Crucifix details out all of the reasons that Jesus died, and calls out the sins that we cling to as humans. God Forsaken deals with the consequences of sin. Every song has its own spiritual significance whether it’s recounting of past experiences or a tool for teaching. The lyrics should speak to people from all walks of life. Overall I’d say this album should appeal to a wide variety of listeners. It has that Demon Hunter perfected blend of brutality and melody that the fans crave and new listeners can use as a springboard into heavier music.
4 out of 5 stars
Review by: Daniel J. Terry
Visit: Demon Hunter on Facebook
Pickup your copy today: Demon Hunter – True Defiance
