Demon Hunter – War + Peace

Music is filled with righteousness 

Seattle band Demon Hunter are known for their loud alternative metal music and earlier this year the band released their ninth and tenth studio albums War + Peace. This album is rather interesting because it is a double album which has two different sides of music. The first side is titled War and the music consists of loud and grungy metal music which has great harmonic guitar playing while rest of the band does a good job playing loud and erratic metal music while playing the same tune. Also, the vocals on the record are fantastic because Ryan Clark is capable of producing a loud grungy sound fans love to hear and with the right timing, his shrieks can be heard filling the background while the band plays bittersweet music. War can cause fans to dance crazy and bang their heads while listening to the powerful music.

In contrast to War, Peace stands out differently because of the style of the music as it shows a softer side of the band. The reason why the musical style is different is because it consists of harmonizing songs in which the band plays on a slower tempo and some of the songs are slow musical ballads. Demon Hunter uses different instruments and vocal styles to create emotional and meaningful songs and Clark’s vocals are impressive because other than shrieking and singing grunge, he is capable of singing in a smooth voice in some of the songs. It will surely be interesting to see which side of the album fans and listeners would prefer. Also with the contrasting themes, Demon Hunter did a great job with the albums because they are not afraid to show the world how creative they can be with their music.

One the album War there is a song titled “Grey Matter” and this song contains what fans want to hear. At the beginning of the song, the sound of a piano can be heard playing before the rest of the band starts to play. Timothy “Yogi” Watts’ drum beats play the same beat at a rapid pace which provides the energy to the track but during the song he changes his drumming style to secular drum beats to match the rock music. Meanwhile, Johnathan Dunn’s bass guitar skills can be heard rumbling to a faster tune and he also manages to create slow tune to match the theme of the music in the middle of the song, Jerimiah Scott’s rhythm guitar skills demonstrates what kind of a guitar player he is because of how he manages to play in perfect harmony throughout the song and Patrick Judge’s lead guitar skills are dynamic on this song because he plays those riffs people want to hear. Also, his guitar solo is bittersweet because it creates the harmony of the song and Clark’s vocals are low but powerful on the track because his voice provides the emotional aspect of the song. Fans will enjoy the mixture of metal and rock on this track because the music does promise them the metal feeling they have been yearning for.

Also on War, there is a song titled “Cut To Fit” and this song is filled with promising music. Clarks’ vocals are unique on the track because he uses his low grungy singing voice to provide the authentic metal sound and he is capable of changing his vocal range to a low melodic sound. Also grungy or not, Clark’s vocal styles stay in tune to match the pace with the rest of the bad,  Dunn’s bass guitar starts the song off with low quality riffs which provides anticipation for the listeners before Clark starts to sing, Scott’s rhythm guitar can be heard in the background playing a soulful tune, Judge’s lead guitar fills the track with quality heavy and light guitar riffs but it is Dunn’s bass guitar skills that provide the lead on the track and Watts’s drumming is being played on faster and shorter tempos in the song. What makes Watts’s drumming enjoyable is being able to listen to him play the drums at different speeds and just by listening, people will learn what kind of a musician Watts is. This song screams metal and harmony and fans will truly appreciate the creativity the band put into this song and album.

On the album Peace, there is a song titled “Fear is Not My Guide” and this song is entirely different from the rest of the songs on War + Peace because the only instrument being played is a piano and the only vocals on the track are provided by Clark. The beautiful sounding piano kicks the song off with pure bliss and then Clark’s voice can be heard singing the emotional ballad with his low and soft voice. The lyrics to this song are pure poetry because, with the piano music and Clark’s vocals, listeners can feel the intensifying emotions of Clark letting his fears go away so he can continue to live his life. His vocals are nice and steady while playing the piano and while listening to the song, it’s noticeable how well his vocals can harmonize with the tune of the music. The piano music is brilliant on this track because it does provide a description of the feeling in the song and judging by the lyrics, the feeling of the song is encouraging because it is about letting fear go before moving on with our lives. Fans and listeners can relate to this song because it is humane for us to live without fear.

Overall, both albums were done wonderfully with musical creativity and it would be rather interesting to see which of the two album fans and listeners would prefer. Either way, many will appreciate War + Peace.

Cait Stoddard: Hello! My name is Caitlin and my job is writing music news stories and reviewing metal music albums. I enjoy collecting vinyl, playing video games, watching movies and going to concerts.
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