Demon Hunter: True Defiance – new album

DEMON HUNTER's sixth full-length ‘True Defiance’ is out now, April 10th, 2012, through Solid State Records. The album was recorded at Compound Studios in Seattle with the band's longtime collaborator producer Aaron Sprinkle and mixed by Jason Suecof, who worked with DEMON HUNTER on their 2009's ‘The World Is A Thorn’. Listen to some brand new DEMON HUNTER tunes, ‘Wake’ and ‘Someone To Hate’ right below, and watch their new Robby Starbuck-directed video ‘My Destiny’ you’ll find below the text:

“ ‘True Defiance’ represents a rallying call to arms, both spiritually and artistically, to the legion of “hunters” the world over who cling to core principles and only the most authentic music against the tide of a materialist world that builds castles on shifting sands. We all stumble and fall, nobody on earth is perfect, but DEMON HUNTER will not apologize for who they aspire to be and their fans continue to be invigorated by each new anthem that seeks to empower us to conquer self-doubt and emptiness. This attitude of ‘True Defiance’ against the obstacles of the world persists throughout every aspect of the band's songwriting and overall presentation,” [states the press release firmly:]

DEMON HUNTER: Wake – courtesy of Solid State Records

DEMON HUNTER: Someone To Hate – courtesy of Solid State Records

 

Formed by brothers Don and Ryan Clark in 2000 in Seattle, Washington, DEMON HUNTER released their “dense” self-titled debut album through Solid State Records in 2002. (“When the alternative metal band is in the mood for maximum brutality, it pummels the listener with a dense, noisy, highly abrasive metal/punk assault. … [This is] an album in which moments of intense brutality are followed by hauntingly melodic passages,” wrote Alex Henderson, AllMusic.) Vocalist Ryan Clark, bassist Jon Dunn, guitarists Don Clark and Kris McCaddon and drummer Jesse Sprinkle recorded their second effort, ‘Summer Of Darkness’, with producer Aaron Sprinkle in 2004, and entered the American chart Billboard Top 200 (at number 136) with its successor, 2005's ‘The Triptych’:

“ ‘The Triptych’ is the Seattle natives' third opus, and it finds them investigating alternate styles of metallic expression with a sense of freedom they'd surely never dare question their religious beliefs with. … It’s also a matter of no small consequence that DEMON HUNTER choose their lyrics wisely throughout this set, keeping them more elliptical and metaphoric than most Christian metal bands, and greatly broadening their appeal as a result (even if it pisses off a few Christian zealots). And, ultimately, even if ‘The Triptych’s audacious diversity still rubs some close-minded listeners the wrong way, it probably bodes well for the band's future capacity to navigate heavy metal's ever-changing trends,” [appraised Eduardo Rivadavia – more here]

With lead guitarist Ethan Luck and drummer Timothy “Yogi” Watts, DEMON HUNTER navigated wisely; their fourth album, 2007's ‘Storm The Gates Of Hell’, entered Billboard Top 200 at number 85, selling well over 10,000 copies in its first week. A documentary (‘45 Days’) was followed by a live recording, ‘Live In Nashville’, in 2009 and their fifth full-length, ‘The World Is A Thorn’, came next in 2010. ‘The World Is A Thorn’ had debuted at number 39 on the US Billboard Top 200 chart, with first-week sales topping 14,000 copies:

“ ‘The World Is A Thorn’ is the sound of Jesus leading his flock down a musical path that was built upon the foundations of hedonism and power (as well as a general fondness for the occult) and staging a coup. Rebellion can go both ways, and Seattle's DEMON HUNTER is as embarrassed as anyone about Christian rock's well-earned reputation for conjuring up lifeless, cookie-cutter slabs of faith-based treacle that carry the weight of a fortune cookie prediction. The band's fifth full-length offering is both composed and volatile. … Metal purists needn’t be wary of cranking this one up with the windows down, as the performances are as brutal as many of the group's death/power/thrash/screamo metal peers, and as true to the genre's defiant nature as its nihilistic creators intended it to be,” [summed the album and the state of things up AllMusic's James Christopher Monger – more here]

DEMON HUNTER features: Ryan Clark – vocals, Patrick Judge – lead guitar, Jeremiah Scott - rhythm guitar, Jon Dunn – bass and Timothy “Yogi” Watts – drums