The self-titled first album released by the heavy metal Christian band Demon Hunter in 2002, proves to be the first step on a long ladder for the band. Demon Hunter’s self-titled is a concept album about the events before and after September 11th in the Middle Ages time frame, at least that’s how I have come to perceive it. Although the story was a step up from Demon Hunter’s later releases,
Summer Of Darkness and
The Triptych, the music is very straight foreword ad contains little variety, but still has it’s standouts. The band itself, though, was still original then as they are now, mixing just the right amount of chaos with the right amount of melody.
The vocalist, Ryan Clark, uses a unique style of rap growling mixed with black metal shrieks and his clean voice later becomes a trademark for the band’s originality. Ryan’s growls are a tad cleaner on this album, sounding less strained then they do in
Summer Of Darkness, but his clean voice sounds less mature compared to
The Triptych, leaving Ryan Clark in a pickle with Demon Hunter’s first and and latest releases. The guitarists, both names unknown when this album was released (although one is Ryan Clark’s brother), are both raw talent that deliver aura’s of fast riffs and soothing melodies. With each Demon Hunter album, the guitarists manage to create a different and unique atmosphere that overall defines Demon Hunter’s sound.
The bassist, name also unknown, shows raw talent on this album. Although sometimes he is hard to hear (like most bassist), ha manages to keep all the songs flowing without ever sounding absent or overriding the music. The drummer is nothing of special talent compared to the rest of the band, using mostly acoustic drumming on each song. However, the twist he does by using trash cans and oil drums as drums at the beginning of
Infected shows that he is still creative and willing to work with anything he’s got to produce a unique sound. Overall, Demon Hunter’s self-titled keeps a substantial flow and creates a unique atmosphere that is original to Demon Hunter.
Screams Of The Undead kicks off the album with some quick tweaks and twirls before blasting into a heavy drumline and with fast guitar riffs and samples of cries and shrieks by ‘the undead’. Like most songs on the album, this track is very thrash influenced, yet Ryan still uses his higher pitched clean vocals in the songs chorus. The next track,
I Have Seen Where It Grows is similar to that of
Screams Of The Undead except without the thrashy tone of the guitars. Overall, it’s similar to the first track, and has the same flow, except the chorus is slightly more catchier.
Infected is the first real highlight of the album, beginning with a drum line played on oil drums and trash cans (only in the studio for the effect), before bursting into an aura of riffs followed by Ryan’s rapping growls. The chorus on this song is what makes the song, being both very catchy and keeps an even flow with the song. Definitely one of the highlights on the album.
My Throat Is An Open Grave is another highlight on the album, and is also one of the two softer tracks. With both a cello and a violin heard on this track, the song creates it’s own wave of significance that specifies it from the rest of the album. Also,
My Throat Is An Open Grave contains some of the most sorrowful yet amazing lyrics probably in all of Christian music, regardless how lame the song title makes it appear to be.
Through The Black follows
My Throat Is An Open Grave with a slow and haunting noise before bursting into one of faster tracks on the album. The song flows well, but doesn’t stand out as much as
I Have Seen Where It Grows and
Infected.
Turn Your Back And Run follows a similar patter to that of
Through The Black, but has a much more catchier chorus. The song has somewhat of a more mono sound then the other tracks, yet still manages to stand out above some of the others.
And The Sky Went Red and
As We Wept both bleed together as one track,
And The Sky Went Red being a 29 second filler with the sounds of horses and burning buildings.
As We Wept is another heavy track like
Through The Black and
Turn Your Back And Run, the only difference is the quick blink-and-you-will-miss-it melodic breakdowns in the riffs.
A Broken Upper Hand is probably the most insignificant track on the album, with poor flow and lack of a catchy melody, the only highlights to the song are the drum solos and the melodic moment nearing the end where Ryan uses his beautiful clean voice. Finally,
The Gauntlet, the second melodic track on the album, ends the album with much to think about. Although not as good as
My Throat Is An Open Grave,
The Gauntlet holds strong on the album, and at 6 minutes and 54 seconds, making it the longest track by Demon Hunter. Overall, Demon Hunter’s self-titled album is a solid debut, and if listened to before their third release,
The Triptych, any listener can tell the progression they have made as a band.
Pros
+ Excellent story line
+ The music creates a unique atmosphere that makes the album easy to listen too
+ Ryan Clark is an astounding vocalist
+ Demon Hunter creates beautiful melodic tracks that make their albums so different from others
Cons
-- Too short of an album (38 minutes 38 seconds)
-- Ryan’s growls can get rather annoying to those whom dislike his rap growl style
-- The unnecessary use of filler
Track Listing
1. Screams Of The Undead (3.5/5)
2. I Have Seen Where It Grows (3.5/5)
3. Infected (4.5/5)
4. My Throat Is An Open Grave (5/5)
5. Through The Black (3/5)
6. Turn Your Back And Run (4/5)
7. And The Sky Went Red (1/5)
8. As We Wept (3.5/5)
9. A Broken Upper Hand (3/5)
10. The Gauntlet (4.5/5)
