ROCKET REVIEW: DEMON HUNTER – “Songs Of Death And Resurrection” (CD)

DEMON HUNTER has released “Songs Of Death And Resurrection,” a brand new acoustic album that dropped March 5th, 2021 via Solid State Records. Fans of the band will truly enjoy this collection of well executed and deeply thoughtful tunes, which features 11 newly recorded “Resurrected” versions of many classic DEMON HUNTER songs, spanning across ten studio albums. The effort includes “I Am a Stone,” “Carry Me Down,” and “The Heart of a Graveyard.” Listeners are also treated to a brand new composition that’s titled “Praise the Void.” I’m typically not one of those people who enjoys acoustic music in the first place, but without a doubt, I found myself getting lost in the haunting, dark mood that is evoked by each of these tracks. “Blood In The Tears” is my personal favorite cut, “Leaving a trail to where you stood…” is such a killer lyric, and I feel this is one of those rare gems that will stand the test of time.

I was really impressed by vocalist/songwriter Ryan Clark’s overall singing, which truly shines I think, as he makes all the right choices as to how he delivers his vocals, and he gets great musical backup from lead guitarist Patrick Judge, bassist Jonathan Dunn, drummer Yogi Watts, along with guitarist Jeremiah Scott, who himself produced and mixed the album in Atlanta, Georgia, and Nashville, Tennessee. As the story goes, Clark’s mother, Peggy, his ‘original vocal inspiration,’ appears alongside her son for the first time, on “Dead Flowers” and “Loneliness.” The chilling strings and piano arrangements are next level good. My second favorite song is “I Will Fail You,” and honestly, to my literal shock, there’s no boring spots or loss of momentum all throughout this collection of songs. Playing this amazing album for the first time on a quiet Sunday morning as the sun rose outside my home absolutely made it that much cooler of an experience. The last two tracks, “The Tide Began To Rise” and “My Heartstrings Come Undone” perfectly cap off this brilliant release.