History Music / DemonHunter

A HeavyMetal band formed in the early 2000s, Demon Hunter is one of the most popular Christian heavy metal bands outside of the genre's own community; along with bands such as Underoath, Thousand Foot Krutch, Red, Pillar, and Skillet, they are among the most known Christian metal bands in recent history. The band has their own nickname for their fan base, similar to how Slipknot calls their fans 'maggots', calling their fans members of 'The Blessed Resistance', as seen on their website.

* ChristianRock: They said so themselves that they are. It's actually really hard to tell, though, even if you listen to their lyrics, as they never openly use the words 'God' or 'Jesus' in any form of praise. [[CueIrony Hell, their name is Demon Hunter, for crying out loud.]]

[[caption-width-right:345:[[GoodIsNotNice Badass]] [[ChristianMetal Christian]] {{Metalcore}}]]. L-R: Ryan Helm, Jon Dunn, Ryan Clark, Tim Watts, Patrick Judge.

[[caption-width-right:345:[[GoodIsNotNice Badass]] [[ChristianMetal Christian]] {{Metalcore}}]]

* Ryan Helm: rhythm guitarist

The band has released 7 studio albums to date, all which have received critical acclaim:

*** 'What is Left' from the deluxe edition of the same album wouldn't sound out of place on a ThreeDaysGrace album.

''Extremist'' was recently released in March.

* XMeetsY: Music/{{Killswitch Engage}} meets Music/{{Slipknot}} meets Music/{{Skillet}}.

*** Christian Alvestam, formerly of ScarSymmetry, on 'Just Breathe'

*** Trevor McNevan of ThousandFootKrutch on 'Coffin Builder'

A Music/HeavyMetal band formed in the early 2000s, Demon Hunter is one of the most popular Christian heavy metal bands outside of the genre's own community; along with bands such as Underoath, Thousand Foot Krutch, Red, Pillar, and Skillet, they are among the most known Christian metal bands in recent history. The band has their own nickname for their fan base, similar to how Slipknot calls their fans 'maggots', calling their fans members of 'The Blessed Resistance', as seen on their website.

* IAmSong: '[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin I Am You]]'.

* LighterAndSofter: ''Extremist'' is considered by some reviewers to be softer than their previous albums in terms of sound. Ironic, considering its title.

** 'We Don't Care''s line 'feels like we've run out of air' may be misheard as 'feels like we've run out of ham.'

** According to reviews, Extremist brings more ballads and softer songs in comparison to the previous albums.

* VocalEvolution: Ryan's clean vocals have remained pretty much unchanged since the band's beginnings, but his harsh vocals have significantly changed since their debut album, not just the way he sounds, but also the style. Compare his growls on [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSAmIYZ2Wjk Screams of the Undead]] to his growls on [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnHn_nY0rr Artificial Light]], from their first and latest albums, respectively, and tell me you can tell it's the same guy.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: It may be because he's bald and his beard is at times very huge, but Ryan could have passed for a man in his early forties ever since he was barely out of college (the music video for 'Infected' was shot when he was just ''23 years old'').

* LighterAndSofter: ''Extremist'' is considered by some reviewers to be softer than their previous albums in terms of sound.

[[AC:Members:]]

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Usually an 8, sometimes crossing into the range of 9. Their softer songs, however, drop down to around a 6.

* ThrashMetal: A few of their songs have elements of this.
* BaldOfAwesome: Ryan.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: It may be because he's bald and his beard is at times very huge, but Ryan could have passed for a man in his early forties ever since he was barely out of college (the music video for 'Infected' was shot when he was just ''23 years old'').
* VocalTagTeam: Averted. Whenever a guest artist appears on a song by the band, the featured artist practically ''takes over the song''. For example, in 'Just Breathe', the aforementioned Christian Alvestam, who sung on it, sings literally everything except for the verses. They might as well have put it on Scar Symmetry's album, for Pete's sake!

** Averted with [[http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/loudwire.com/files/2014/01/Demon-Hunter-Extremist1.jpg Extremist]]
*** That's not the actual cover. [[http://raincityambience.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/demon-hunter-album-reveal-1.jpg This is]], so the trope still stands.
* HeyItsThatVoice: Ryan screams like no other.
* CarefulWithThatAxe: They do this a lot, but especially on the title track on 'Storm the Gates of Hell'. It begins with quiet static, then the drums start to come in and Ryan lets out a loud-ass growl powerful enough to wake up a sleeping baby. And throughout the song, he sounds like he's trying to explode his throat.
* RapMetal: In some songs, Ryan screams in an almost hip-hop rhythm, most notably on 'The Science of Lies', 'I Have Seen Where It Grows', 'Beauty Through the Eyes of a Predator', 'LifeWar', the second verse of 'Through the Black', 'Not Ready to Die', 'Beheaded', and 'Tie This Around Your Neck'.
* {{Mondegreen}}: In the song 'Our Faces Fall Apart', the line 'I built this anguish with my own hands' is sometimes misheard as 'I built this sandwich with my own hands'.
* FakeOutFadeOut: 'Deteriorate' sounds like it's finished around 3/4 of the way through, then the riff comes back out of nowhere and the chorus plays a few times.
* EpicRocking: 'The Gauntlet' clocks in at just under 7 minutes.
* CoverVersion: The band covered Prong's 'Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck'.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Their music is perceived as being very dark, despite the fact that they are a Christian band and are in reality anything ''but''.
* LoveNostalgiaSong: 'One Thousand Apologies'.

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: They seem to have more and more per album. According to the song samples, ''True Defiance'' is only keeping this up.
** Especially the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lUOP7wXLMg Strings Mix of Driving Nails]]
* NotChristianRock: Most fans don't know they're Christian until they look it up first.
* IAmSong: '[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin I Am You]]'.
* IconicLogo: It doesn't really need to be explained.
* FanCommunityNicknames: The band's fans are called 'The Blessed Resistance'.
* LimitedWardrobe: Ryan almost always wears either a beanie and a coat or a vest.
* SpecialGuest:
** ''Summer of Darkness'':
*** Trevor McNevan of ThousandFootKrutch on 'Coffin Builder'
*** Brock Lindow of 36 Crazyfists on 'Beauty Through the Eyes of a Predator'
*** Howard Jones of Music/KillswitchEngage on 'Our Faces Fall Apart'
*** Mike Williams of The Agony Scene on 'Beheaded'
** ''The World Is a Thorn'':
*** Bjorn Strid of Soilwork on 'Collapsing'
*** Christian Alvestam, formerly of ScarSymmetry, on 'Just Breathe'
*** Dave Peters of Throwdown on 'Feel As Though You Could'
* MinisculeRocking: 'Lifewar' from ''The World Is a Thorn'' clocks in at just under 2 minutes.
* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: 'Fading Away' sounds like something Music/AvengedSevenfold would sing.
** ''True Defiance'' features 'Means to an End', an acoustic instrumental song.
** 'What is Left' wouldn't sound out of place on a ThreeDaysGrace album.
* ChewingTheScenery: "LIFE! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!"
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Storm the Gates of Hell'' is considered their darkest album.
* RatedMForManly: Oh, yes. Quite possibly the only Christian band that qualifies.
* AuthorVocabularyCalendar: They have used the phrase 'reap what you've sown' more than a couple times.
* GrooveMetal: ''The Triptych'' onward.
* VocalEvolution: Ryan's clean vocals have remained pretty much unchanged since the band's beginnings, but his harsh vocals have significantly changed since their debut album, not just the way he sounds, but also the style. Compare his growls on [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSAmIYZ2Wjk Screams of the Undead]] to his growls on [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvQa1SywbXI Crucifix]], from their first and latest albums, respectively, and tell me you can tell it's the same guy.

A Music/HeavyMetal band formed in the early 2000s, Demon Hunter is one of the most popular Christian heavy metal bands outside of the genre's own community; along with bands such as Underoath, Thousand Foot Krutch, Red, Pillar, and Skillet, they are among the most known Christian metal bands in recent history. The band has their own nickname for their fan base, similar to how Slipknot calls their fans 'maggots', calling their fans members of 'The Blessed Resistance', as seen on their website. The band has released 6 studio albums to date, ''Demon Hunter'' in 2002, ''Summer of Darkness'' in 2004, ''The Triptych'' in 2005, ''Storm the Gates of Hell'' in 2007, and most recently, ''The World Is a Thorn'' in 2010, and ''True Defiance'' in 2012, all of which have received critical acclaim.

Demon Hunter has finished a new album called ''Extremist'', which is due for release in March.

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: They have a few of these but most notably Driving Nails.
** Especially the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lUOP7wXLMg Strings Mix]]

** Averted with [[http://www.indievisionmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/demon-hunter-extremist.jpg Extremist]]

* TextlessAlbumCover: EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

Demon Hunter has finished a new album called ''The Extremist'', which is due for release in March.

* OneSceneWonder: Trevor McNevan's part in 'Coffin Builder'. You can't miss it even if you try.