Line #10 Music/DemonHunter


1	[[quoteright:345:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/demon_hunter_5517.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:345:[[GoodIsNotNice Badass]] [[ChristianMetal Christian]] {{Metalcore}}]]
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4	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. The band has their own nickname for their fan base, calling their fans members of "The Blessed Resistance", as seen on their website.
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6	Their music is classified by many as a unique cross between {{Metalcore}}, GrooveMetal, and AlternativeMetal, with a little bit of NuMetal as well, particularly in their first two albums. Despite critical acclaim and the many aforementioned fans outside of Christian groups, the band has found little mainstream success as of yet, though they have had some of their videos played on MTV's Headbangers' Ball.
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8	They are also known for their iconic mascot, the symbol of a bull-like demon with a bullet hole in its head, which has appeared on stickers, t-shirts, hoodies, and [[IdiosyncraticCoverArt every single one of their album covers]].
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10	[[AC:Current Members:]]
11	* Ryan Clark: lead vocalist
12	* Jon Dunn: bass guitar player
13	* Timothy Watts: drummer
14	* Patrick Judge: standard guitarist and backing vocalist
15	* Jeremiah Scott: rhythm guitarist
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17	[[AC:Main Discography:]]
18	* ''Demon Hunter'' (2002)
19	* ''Summer of Darkness'' (2004)
20	* ''The Triptych'' (2005)
21	* ''Storm the Gates of Hell'' (2007)
22	* ''The World Is a Thorn'' (2010)
23	* ''True Defiance'' (2012)
24	* ''Extremist'' (2014)
25	* ''Outlive'' (2017)
26	* ''War'' (2019)
27	* ''Peace'' (2019)
28	* ''Exile'' (2022)
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30	[[AC:Miscellaneous Discography]]
31	* ''45 Days'' (2008) - soundtrack album to the documentary on the band of the same name
32	* ''Live in Nashville'' (2009) - an audio-only release of the live concert recorded in "45 Days"
33	* ''Death, a Destination'' (2011) - a compilation of their first three albums, the title coming from a line in "I Have Seen Where It Grows"
34	* ''Songs of Death and Resurrection'' (2021) - collection of acoustic re-recordings of their most popular ballads, along with one original song titled "Praise the Void"
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36	[[AC:Guest Musicians:]]
37	* Mike Williams (The Agony Scene) - harsh vocals on "Beheaded" (''Summer of Darkness'')
38	* Howard Jones (ex-Music/KillswitchEngage) - harsh and clean vocals on "Our Faces Fall Apart" (''Summer of Darkness'')
39	* Brock Lindow (Music/ThirtySixCrazyfists) - harsh and clean vocals on "Beauty Through the Eyes of a Predator" (''Summer of Darkness'')
40	* Trevor [=McNevan=] (Music/ThousandFootKrutch) - vocals on "Coffin Builder" (''Summer of Darkness'')
41	* Bruce Fitzhugh (Living Sacrifice) - vocals on "Sixteen" (''Storm the Gates of Hell'')
42	* Bjorn "Speed" Strid (Music/{{Soilwork}}) - clean vocals on "Collapsing" (''The World Is a Thorn'')
43	* Christian Alvestam (Miseration, ex-Music/ScarSymmetry) - harsh and clean vocals on "Just Breathe" (''The World Is a Thorn'')
44	* Dave Peters (Throwdown) - vocals on "Feel As Though You Could" (''The World Is a Thorn'')
45	* Max Cavalera (Music/{{Soulfly}}, ex-Music/{{Sepultura}}) - vocals on "Defense Mechanism" (''Exile'')
46	* Tom S. Englund (Music/{{Evergrey}}) - vocals on "Silence the World" (''Exile'')
47	* Richie Faulkner (Music/JudasPriest) - guitar on "Godless" (''Exile'')
48	----
49	! Demon Hunter provides examples of:
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51	* AuthorVocabularyCalendar: They have used the phrase "reap what you've sown" more than a couple times.
52	* ChewingTheScenery: "LIFE! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!"
53	* 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 - when they do, it's usually in a different context.
54	* ConceptAlbum: ''Exile'' is a story about the collapse of civilization, told through the eyes of continuing to hope for an untethered life. The story is accompanied by a comic series written by Ryan himself.
55	* CoverVersion: The band covered Prong's "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck".
56	* DarkIsNotEvil: Their music is perceived as being very dark, despite the fact that they are a Christian band and are in reality anything ''but''.
57	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Their first album is recorded in Drop C (the rest of their albums are recorded in Drop B), has more overt NuMetal elements, and Ryan Clark uses a higher-pitched screaming style than what he would become known for.
58	** ''Summer of Darkness'' and ''The Triptych'' also fit this trope somewhat, given that they were still shedding the NuMetal influences of their first record, especially to those who were introduced to the band through their later material.
59	* EpicRocking: "The Gauntlet" clocks in at just under 7 minutes.
60	** "Silence the World" surpasses 7 minutes in length, unsurprising given that it is a duet between Ryan and Tom S. Englund of prog-metal band Music/{{Evergrey}}.
61	** "Along the Way" is the band's longest song yet, running just over eight minutes.
62	* FadingIntoTheNextSong: In ''True Defiance'', "Means to an End" → "We Don't Care". This is an interesting example in that "Means to an End" was made with this intention, and was going to segue into whichever song fit the key it was in. "We Don't Care" was the only song they had in the key of E.
63	** In ''Outlive'', "Trying Times" fades into "Jesus Wept".
64	* 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.
65	* GrooveMetal: ''The Triptych'' onward.
66	* IAmSong: "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin I Am You]]", "I Am a Stone", and "Death".
67	* LighterAndSofter: ''Extremist'' is considered by some to be softer than their previous albums. Ironic, considering its title.
68	** ''Peace'' is this in comparison to their prior releases, being a straight-up AlternativeMetal album that was intentionally made to showcase their softer side.
69	* LimitedWardrobe: Ryan almost always wears either a beanie and a coat or a vest.
70	* LoveNostalgiaSong: "One Thousand Apologies".
71	* {{Metalcore}}: Arguably the biggest component of their sound, though they do have other influences.
72	* MinisculeRocking: "[=LifeWar=]" from ''The World Is a Thorn'' clocks in at just under 2 minutes.
73	* NewSoundAlbum: Plenty:
74	** ''Summer of Darkness'' saw Ryan's harsh vocals evolve into the unmistakable grunt he's known for today, and was their first album to feature Drop B tuning, which they've used since.
75	** ''The Triptych'' began their transition to a more GrooveMetal-oriented sound. This was fully completed on ''Storm the Gates of Hell'', which completely shed what little traces of NuMetal were left in their sound.
76	** ''The World Is a Thorn'' featured cleaner production and a more melodic, epic approach to songwriting, which was continued on ''True Defiance''.
77	** ''Extremist'' continued in the same vein, but featured a lighter sound with more ballads.
78	** ''Outlive'' saw the return of minor NuMetal elements, but not to the extent of their first few albums. It also featured djent influences on some tracks, which never showed up before or since.
79	** ''War'' was a mixture of the sounds of their previous albums minus their first few, while ''Peace'' dove straight into AlternativeMetal territory.
80	** ''Exile'' is a step up in heaviness from its predecessor while simultaneously featuring a more stripped down and atmospheric sound that is far more downbeat than any of their prior albums, which goes along with its concept of the collapse of civilized society.
81	* NuMetal: They started out playing this, but slowly transitioned out of it on their second and third albums. Though ''Outlive'' brings back some elements of the genre, most notably on "Cold Blood".
82	* OminousLatinChanting: "Death" starts with a group chanting "mors, obitus, decessus" 12 times.
83	* OncePerEpisode: ''Storm the Gates of Hell'' began the trend of the deluxe editions of their albums containing at least one bonus track, a practice that has become a staple of their discography since.
84	** With the exception of their debut and ''Peace'', they have one or two songs without any clean vocals per album:
85	*** "Beheaded" from ''Summer of Darkness''.
86	*** "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck" (Prong cover) from ''The Triptych''.
87	*** "Storm the Gates of Hell" from ''Storm the Gates of Hell''.
88	*** "[=LifeWar=]" and "The World Is a Thorn" from ''The World Is a Thorn''.
89	*** "Crucifix" from ''True Defiance''.
90	*** "Death" and "Cross to Bear" from ''Extremist''.
91	*** "Jesus Wept" and "One Less" from ''Outlive''.
92	*** "Ash" from ''War''.
93	*** "Defense Mechanism" and "Freedom Is Dead" from ''Exile''.
94	* PrematurelyBald: According to Ryan himself, his shaved head is due to having lost his hair at a very early age rather than pure stylistic choice. He revealed this when he wrote a letter to his younger self and poked fun at his look by saying "enjoy your hair". He was barely approaching his mid-20s when the band's first album was released, and was already bald then, so as a result of his look, he appeared to be far older than he really was for some time (see YoungerThanTheyLook below).
95	* RapMetal: Not a full-fledged example, but Ryan's harsh vocals tend to have a rap-like flow to them on several songs, examples being on "Tie This Around Your Neck", "Through the Black", "Everything Was White", "The Science of Lies", and "Jesus Wept".
96	* RearrangeTheSong: They released ''Songs of Death and Resurrection'' in 2021, a compilation of redone acoustic versions of their most popular ballads.
97	* SopranoAndGravel: Several songs have this dynamic. Ryan is well-known for his distinct alteration between sludgy growls and baritone cleans.
98	* SurprisinglyGentleSong: They seem to have more and more per album. However, their ballads have been a staple of their sound since their very first album.
99	** Especially the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lUOP7wXLMg Strings Mix of Driving Nails]]
100	** ''Extremist'' brings more ballads and softer songs in comparison to the previous albums.
101	** ''Peace'' is their softest album of original material to date, featuring exclusively clean vocals on all but one song ("Two Ways"). This was intentional, as it was meant to showcase their softer side in contrast to its companion album ''War'', which was their heaviest album in a while at the time.
102	* TextlessAlbumCover: EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.
103	* ThisIsASong: Not quite, but "This is the Line" is pretty close.
104	* ThrashMetal: A few of their songs have elements of this. The title track from ''The World Is a Thorn'' showcases this the most.
105	* 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 in regards to the way he sounds, but also the style. He started with a hardcore-esque bark, but eventually settled for an instantly recognizable hybrid between a death growl, yell, and chant.
106	* YoungerThanTheyLook: Ryan looked much older than he was for a good chunk of their career. He was only 23 when their debut album was released, but looked to be at least ten years older due to being completely bald and sporting a huge beard. This was exemplified when he became noticeably overweight around the ''World Is a Thorn'' through ''Extremist'' era. However, he lost a significant amount of weight circa ''Outlive'', becoming the fittest he'd ever been, and now in his 40s, he actually looks his age if not younger thanks to this.

Context Music / DemonHunter