{"id":6358,"date":"2021-04-02T05:26:34","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T05:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/?p=6358"},"modified":"2021-04-02T14:26:11","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T14:26:11","slug":"demon-hunter-songs-of-death-and-resurrection-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/02\/demon-hunter-songs-of-death-and-resurrection-2\/","title":{"rendered":"DEMON HUNTER: Songs of Death and Resurrection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Compilation of Acoustic Resurrections<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Demon Hunter has been a solid staple of innovative and powerful God-centric metal for almost two decades. With 9 releases (10 if you count War<\/em> and Peace<\/em> separate) during that span they have covered a massive landscape of metal styles and lyrical themes. Durability, consistency, credibility and creativity all apply \u2013 the epitome of \u201csolid state.\u201d But the one thing they have never attempted? \u2013 the \u201call-acoustic\u201d album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the more melodic\/acoustic ballads have been present since the debut album in 2002, there was never an emphasis to make these songs the Demon Hunter trademark \u2026 but to the fans, it happened! The melodic meanderings of this band became a striking paradox in the extreme metal genre \u2013 one which would become an essential part of their musical identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I remember when I first listened to the debut\/self-titled album. Not only did the heavy tracks possess this coarse\/clean vocal schizophrenia, there was this song \u2013 \u201cMy Throat is an Open Grave\u201d \u2013 that just lit up the monitor. Not only did the name of the song provoke so much imagery, but at first listen, it seemed so out of place \u2026 but then the hooks kept clawing deeper with every listen and it soon became apparent that it was one of the best songs on the record!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward almost 20 years and here is a magically reworked version of that very song! How appropriate for it to be the lead-off track for this celebration of death and resurrection release!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt feels good to be alive, I\u2019ve been dead for so long.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With the exception of Outlive<\/em> (a more contemporary metal direction), this pattern continued on every subsequent DH release with these more accessible, incredibly well-written ballad songs with lyrics that cut to the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cTell me that your hopes and dreams, don\u2019t end in the heart of a graveyard.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For this special release, eleven of these wonderful classic ballads have been re-worked and \u201cresurrected\u201d with an acoustic interpretation \u2013 all here on one compilation! Joanna Ott (piano) and Chris Carmichael (strings) have joined Ryan, Jeremiah, Patrick (guitars), Jonathan (bass) and Yogi (drums) to craft one of the most memorable acoustic albums in the history of metal. Yes, it is that good! All these songs are great in their original formats, but the new versions just bleed more tears of emotion \u2013 if that\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eleven re-worked songs. Twelve tracks. \u201cPraise the Void\u201d<\/strong> is a bit of a bonus track \u2013 positioned as the 4th<\/sup> track here \u2013 because its from the upcoming album entitled Exhile<\/em>. Three of these tracks were previously released in acoustic versions on The Tryptich<\/em> Special Edition (Open Grave, Heartstrings, Tide), but those \u201craw\u201d guitar and vocals only versions have been re-worked into more expansive expressions here with the addition of piano and strings (on all 3 tracks) and drums ( on Open Grave, Tide).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Music of Death and Resurrection<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned above, \u201cMy Throat is an Open Grave\u201d<\/strong> leads off \u2013 this track has traveled a long way since 2002. Not only has Ryan\u2019s voice matured \u2013 a deeper quality\/tone \u2013 but the pace has been slackened from the original recording. The string\/effects have been replaced by more acoustic\/less-processed tones \u2013 most significantly the piano now carries the melody on the intro and throughout, while the strings supply support over the top. The drum tones are deeper on bass and snare and the whole thing flows so smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cDead Flowers\u201d<\/strong> was, for me, easily the best song from True Defiance<\/em>.  I would rate it extremely high on my all-time DH song list. I just love the melody in the chorus, the flow and the words. On the original, the guitars just rejoice so perfectly with the vocals, not to mention those disturbingly distorted vocals in the latter half of the song to that harpsichord-ish outro, that I would be hard-pressed to re-imagine this song in any way, shape or form. That said, the re-orchestration of this song is simply jaw-dropping. Once again, the piano drives the melody, but there is an underlying snare\/kick that is so subtle under the symphony of strings. The guitar solo is now acoustic and perfectly plays right into Ryan\u2019s final vocal chorus \u2013 the distortion all gone in the \u201cround\u201d of voices section. The snare drum, like a funeral march, accompanies Ryan\u2019s push to the end with those magnificent \u201cpipes\u201d closing it out. Beautiful to tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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