Demon Hunter - War (2019) Hi Res

Has Demon Hunter reached legend status yet? If not, you can't deny that they're certainly worthy of considering such a title. What started as a side project of some guys from Training For Utopia and Poor Old Lu (as well as a Tooth & Nail employee) is now reaching double digits with studio albums, and has become one of Solid State Records' most successful and loved bands of all time. For albums nine and ten, they're going big, with two albums totaling twenty tracks.

Demon Hunter's 2017 offering, Outlive, was the band's softest release to date. It was still heavy and packed a heck of a punch, but it had a lot more singing and hard rock influence than previous albums. War feels like a natural progression. I would argue that it's (probably) heavier than Outlive, but it's not devoid of hard rock and songs with exclusively clean vocals. You might think it's an odd choice to include tracks like this when they're simultaneously releasing an album full of them; I thought the same thing at first, but then came to the conclusion that this is what Demon Hunter has always done, and it really makes War into a more well-rounded album. On top of that, one of the clean tracks, "Grey Matter," is one of the highlights of War, as is "On My Side," which keeps the musical aspect of metalcore (chugging guitars with matching kick drums) while Ryan Clark belts out his unmatched rock voice.

As much as I like Demon Hunter's brand of hard rock, the feature presentation is still in their metalcore. The back-to-back pairing of "The Negative" and "Ash" is excellent, showcasing Clark's vicious growls and screams, occasionally used in ways we haven't heard before. It's great that the band keeps finding new ways to write and play their music; it speaks as a testament to DH's longevity and musicianship. A great example of this is in "Close Enough," particularly the verses instead of the chorus. If you heard them without vocals, you might be swayed into believing that it's a band like Metallica or Pantera, with its somewhat old school metal sound. This classic sound especially stems from the lead guitar's tone and the main guitar riff during the verses. The chorus, which is actually one of my favorites on this album, brings it back to what DH does well, as the driving guitars and double bass are met with Ryan's clean vocals, and it's excellent.

It's always a treat when Demon Hunter steps out of the shadows with new music, and War and Peace are no exceptions. I've definitely listened to War a lot more than its counterpart, though, so if you can only afford one (and yes, you should buy it), this would be my personal recommendation. But either way you go, you can't go wrong.