Review Summary: Extremist is a phenomenal asset to Demon Hunter's discography as a whole and is well worth the time and the money.
Demon Hunter is a rare Christian metal band that has succeeded in almost every way, whether or not people enjoy it. Examples include clean production, solidarity in their sound, and also appealing to mainstream audiences. While
The World is a Thorn seemed to be the biggest disappointment to their fan base despite critical acclaim from critics, there was one thing that Demon Hunter did right, and that was to polish their nu-metal/heavy metal sound that would at least be in some way enjoyable for many head-bangers and metal-heads for years to come, no matter how they viewed it.
True Defiance was also another step up from what they were trying to accomplish, despite its formulaic approach. Both albums where more aimed towards mainstream audiences and in respects the change was for the better. Now we have
Extremist, in which the band has stated that this particular release is the one that thy're most proud of, and they should be.
The first song to be released is
Artificial Light, and as by the first minute-and-a-half it is plainly obvious that they have been listening to Soilwork, as it’s style in the guitar riffs, drumming, and even the vocal quality has actually very similar ideals. Even so, it’s not really a bad thing that they’ve done this. You have to understand that Soilwork was a major influence beforehand.
The World is a Thorn had many songs like
Tie This Around Your Neck,
Just Breathe and
Collapsing (it’s actually kind of funny for that song in particular since Bjorn was a guest singer in it) had obvious signs of Soilwork, as their speed, and guitar riffs had similar qualities. The one thing that differentiates Demon Hunter from Soilwork is that Demon Hunter actually set their own pace and their own uniqueness to their sound. Vocalist Ryan Clark is great as always, always punching his screams and yet never forcing it at the same time. His clean vocals have certainly attained much improvement and are supported strongly thanks to lead guitarist Patrick Judge. Guitar solos are constant throughout the album, as it was in
True Defiance and are well-executed. The drums are always on beat, keeping the energy alive and are surely one of the main attributes to this album in particular that keeps the album from losing interest.
The album starts off with
Death and much like
Storm the Gates of Hell and
Crucifix it is a brutal and opulent opening song that covers much of what there is in this album. The intro itself is rather unusual for the band to do, as it’s not typical of them to do as strange sound effect through the first half of the song, similar to that of the opening song,
Escape from Thirty Seconds to Mars’
This is War. Other songs like
Last One Alive and
Hell Not Need Me consist of very powerful verses and catchy choruses that attain much attention, making them fitting ballads.
What I’m Not contain industrial metal induced elements, possibly similar to that of the band Device, though not as polished. The slower songs
I Will Fail You and
Heart of a Graveyard are that of typical Demon Hunter style, though are more powerful and deeper than one might give credit for.
That being said, some may consider
Extremist to be the best record that Demon Hunter has put out, and others may say that it’s not. Even so,
Extremist isn’t going to win over any new fans, and that’s the biggest issue to this album. It doesn’t exactly move them forward in terms of popularity nor is it necessarily going to have people from around the world screaming “We want Demon Hunter! We want Demon Hunter!” As to what people may think,
Extremist is no doubt an extremely strong, solid record. It is going to have many metal-heads having their head-banging no doubt, at least until the next metal record that everyone is going to be shouting about.
Recommended Songs:
Artificial Light
Last One Alive
I Will Fail You
Cross to Bear
