Demon Hunter – THE TRIPTYCH review
Posted by RNS Robot on January 3rd, 2010
DEMON HUNTER
The Triptych
Released 2005
Solid State Records
I almost passed up The Triptych after Demon Hunter’s underwhelming sophomore effort Summer of Darkness soured me on the group. Fortunately, I heard the record in a friend’s car and found myself impressed. Fifteen bucks and repeated listens later I feel confident to say that Demon Hunter’s third record is easily the best of their three records. I am EXCITED for this band again. The sound is still a blend of the heaviest of heavy riffs with Ryan Clark’s alternating growls and melodic vocals, but the mixture doesn’t feel forced or awkward like it did many times on Summer of Darkness. EPIC CHOIR opens the album singing “The Flame The Guides us Home,” transitioning directly into the crushing “Not I.” From there on it’s a meaty journey through HEAVY and surprisingly groove-worthy technical metal broken up by the occasional hard rock ballad.
The strength of “The Triptych” is Demon Hunter’s ability to make every track sound as if it belongs. The emotive anthem “Deteriorate” and the album-closing “The Tide Began To Rise” do not sound out of place next to the pure metal songs. It’s an incredible and difficult balancing act that DH must be commended for achieving (after all, they didn’t on SoD). The recording itself sounds great (especially the old school sounding double bass kick), thick and bruising. Throw in a killer cover of Prong’s classic cyber-core industrial metal track “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck” (which brings me back to the days of ARGYLE PARK and CIRCLE OF DUST) and you’ve got yourself a winner.
