Demon Hunter
is an American Christian alternative metal / metalcore band from Seattle, Washington, started by brothers Don Clark and Ryan Clark. Demon Hunter's members are Christian and express their faith in many of their songs. [1]
Demon Hunter has many musical influences, including Machine Head and Living Sacrifice. These influences are evident in the more aggressive, traditional metal instrumental and vocal parts of their music. [2] Demon Hunter was named 1 of 10 "Artists To Watch" by AOL Music [3] and was given excellent reviews in Revolver, Outburn and Decibel.
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DEMON HUNTER TICKETS
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History
Formation
Demon Hunter was initially conceived as a project band by the Clarks, who had played together previously in the initially Coalesce and Neurosis influenced but later more experimental band
Training For Utopia. Ryan had previously played guitar in Christian hardcore band Focal Point, who released an album on Tooth & Nail/Solid State when Ryan was still in his teens.
Demon Hunter first appeared on
This is Solid State, Vol. 3
with their first song "Through the Black" released in February 2002. Demon Hunter's self titled album was released in October 2002 on
Tooth and Nail Records subsidiary
Solid State Records. Ryan and Don wrote all of the songs, performed the majority of the instruments (with Ryan singing as he had in TFU) and hired Jesse Sprinkle to record drum tracks.
At first the members of the band chose to hide or obscure their identities in photos and in the press. Their names were revealed when they undertook their first tour, which featured Norwegian
Christian metal heavyweights
Extol and death-influenced
metalcore youngbloods
The Agony Scene, and saw the permanent adding of Jesse Sprinkle on drums, Jon Dunn on bass, and Kris McCaddon, formerly of
Embodyment, on lead guitar.
Studio albums
Demon Hunter returned to the studio to record their second full-length release,
Summer of Darkness
, with McCaddon contributing, and again with Jesse drumming.
Summer of Darkness
hit stores on
May 4,
2004, and was a modest success, propelling Demon Hunter into the secular scene with the addition of the music video "Not Ready to Die" on MTV2's
Headbanger's Ball [4] [5] and
Fuse TV, along with single "My Heartstrings Come Undone" being placed on the
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
movie soundtrack.
[6] The album featured four guest vocal appearances, including
Mike Williams of
The Agony Scene on "Beheaded", Brock Lindow of
36 Crazyfists on "Beauty Through The Eyes Of A Predator",
Howard Jones from
Killswitch Engage on "Our Faces Fall Apart" and
Trevor McNevan of
Thousand Foot Krutch on "Coffin Builder".
[7]
Demon Hunter hit the road that summer with McCaddon on lead and Dunn on bass, and with new touring drummer Tim "Yogi" Watts, as Jesse Sprinkle could not make the tour. This time Demon Hunter took with them rock/
post-hardcore rookies
Dead Poetic, along with metalcore band
Haste the Day. Post-hardcore band
Staple replaced Haste the Day towards the end of the tour.
In 2005, Demon Hunter went back to The Compound in
Seattle, Washington to record their third album, entitled
The Triptych
. The word "triptych" centers around the concept of three, as it was the band's third album. Included on the album is a cover of
Prong's song "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck". This album debuted Watts as Sprinkle's permanent replacement on drums (Jesse having joined Dead Poetic) as well as the addition of
Ethan Luck (
The O.C. Supertones (Guitar),
The Dingees (Drums)) as lead guitarist, replacing Kris McCaddon.
The Triptych
was even bigger than
Summer of Darkness
, selling more than twice as many records on its first week of release than
Summer of Darkness
had. "Undying" was the band's first single from this album, and was also made into a music video directed by
Chris Sims (
As I Lay Dying,
Lamb of God,
Zao).
Demon Hunter's only 2006 tour took place over the summer with
Zao,
Becoming the Archetype,
August Burns Red, and
Spoken.
[8] The band shot a video for "One Thousand Apologies" after the tour was over with director
Darren Doane at the helm.
The Triptych
was re-released on
October 31,
2006 with a DVD accompanying the album and four extra songs added to the original album.
The hard rock and heavy metal based magazine,
Revolver
, published a cover story on Christian metal in December 2006, featuring what the magazine called "The Holy Alliance":
Spencer Chamberlain from
Underoath,
Ryan Clark from Demon Hunter,
Tim Lambesis from
As I Lay Dying, and
Cory Brandan Putman from
Norma Jean.
Demon Hunter entered the studio in June
2007 to record their fourth full-length album,
Storm the Gates of Hell
, which was released on
November 6,
2007. Solid State released three versions of the album with various bonuses. "Fading Away" was the album's first single and music video. On
March 13 2008, "Carry Me Down" debuted on
Headbanger's Ball
s website as the album's second music video, and made its television premiere on
March 15 on the same show.
Stronger Than Hell Tour
In 2008, the band headlined the "Stronger Than Hell" tour, which started
May 26 in
Seattle, Washington. The tour featured the recently reunited Christian metal forefathers
Living Sacrifice, whose lead singer
Bruce Fitzhugh was featured as a guest vocalist on
Storm the Gates of Hell
s track titled "Sixteen". The tour also included
Oh, Sleeper,
The Famine, and
Advent. This tour completed
July 5,
2008, at
Cornerstone Festival in Illinois.
Demon Hunter released "
45 Days" in November, a
box set comprising two DVDs and a CD containing a documentary film about the band and their fans, a pro-shot performance from the "Stronger Than Hell" tour and a brand new score written exclusively for the film along with two bonus tracks.
A live album, entitled "Live in Nashville", was released on
January 27,
2009. It includes 14 songs from their show in Nashville, Tennessee from their "Stronger Than Hell" tour. The album features lead guitarist Patrick Judge, who filled in for Luck on several of the "Stronger Than Hell" dates due to Luck's conflicting scheduling commitments as drummer for
Relient K.
Following the completion of the "Stronger Than Hell" tour, the band began work for the first annual "Huntour." The mini-tour is planned for 3 nights between
August 12th and
August 15th,
2009 with supporting acts
Heiress,
7 Horns 7 Eyes,
Throwdown,
Living Sacrifice,
The Crucified,
The Great Commission,
Focused, and
Faith Snakes.
On August 12, 2009 in Seattle, WA at El Corazón Demon Hunter announced that Don Clark has left the band to pursue his graphic designer career and to be with his family.
[9] Demon Hunter also announced that they are heading back into studio in October to record their next album. It has also been learned that Ethan left because he couldn't keep up with the hectic schedule of being in both Demon Hunter and Relient K.
On
August 28th, Demon Hunter release an official statement with a new band photograph stating that Patrick Judge is the new permanent replacement for Ethan. However, the statement made no mention of Randy Torres's join the band, but the new band photograph shows him with the band.
[10]
Members
Current members
- Ryan Clark – lead vocals (Training for Utopia, Focal Point) (2000-Present)
- Jon Dunn – bass (2000-Present)
- Patrick Judge – lead guitar & rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2009-Present)
- Timothy "Yogi" Watts – drums (The Showdown) (2005-Present)
- Randy Torres – lead guitar & rhythm guitar (Project 86, Crash Rickshaw) (2009-Present)
Former Members
- Jesse Sprinkle – drums (Dead Poetic, Poor Old Lu, Morella's Forest) (2000-2005)
- Kris McCaddon – guitar (The Famine, Embodyment) (2000-2005)
- Don Clark – lead guitar & rhythm guitar (Training for Utopia) (2000-2009)
- Ethan Luck – lead guitar & rhythm guitar, backing vocals (Relient K, The O.C. Supertones, Project 86, The Dingees) (2005-2009)
Discography
Studio albums
- Demon Hunter
(2002)
- Summer of Darkness
(2004)
- The Triptych
(2005)
- Storm the Gates of Hell
(2007)
- TBA
(2010)
Live albums
- 45 Days
(DVD/CD)
- Live in Nashville
(2009)
Singles
- "Infected", Demon Hunter
, 2002
- "Not Ready to Die", Summer of Darkness
, 2004
- "Undying", The Triptych
, 2005
- "One Thousand Apologies", The Triptych
, 2006
- "Fading Away", Storm the Gates of Hell
, 2007
- "Carry Me Down", Storm the Gates of Hell
, 2007
References
- I write Christian lyrics
- Title Unavailable
- Demon Hunter Announces "Stronger Than Hell Tour" With Living Sacrifice
- The Gauntlet :: Demon Hunter - Heavy Metal - News - Demon Hunter Videos - Demon Hunter Ringtones - mp3s - Tabs - Wallpaper - lyrics
- HARM.US/666METAL.COM - ->INTERVIEW WITH DEMON HUNTER BY WAYFAERER<
- Jesusfreakhideout.com: Demon Hunter Discography, Demon Hunter Artist Database, Demon Hunter Lyrics
- MusiChristian.com: Demon Hunter : Summer of Darkness
- Metal News - Demon Hunter, Zao, August Burns Red Tour Dates
- "To the Demon Hunter Fans"
- "Demon Hunter Announces New Album Plans, Member Changes"