Solid State Records is pleased toannounce the release of metal mainstays DEMON HUNTER‘s sixth full-length album, True Defiance, in stores everywhere April 10.
Produced by Aaron Sprinkle (Anberlin, Emery) and mixed by Jason Suecoff (All That Remains, Trivium), True Defiance finds DEMON HUNTER continuing in their hard rock evolution while embracing the components that have always formed the backbone of their music: true metal, dark rock and balladry.
“This record is without a doubt our most aggressive,” says vocalist and band co-founder Ryan Clark. “Every DEMON HUNTER record must be a step up from the last. I know that’s a goal for every band, but it seldom works that way – especially today, especially in metal. It seems like most bands’ prime years are long behind them. I refuse to let that be the case for us.”
On True Defiance, Grammy-nominated artist Ryan Clark, Tim “Yogi” Watts (drums), Jonathan Dunn (bass) and Patrick Judge (lead guitar) are joined by their longtime friend Jeremiah Scott (guitar), whose credits as a metal musician (The Showdown) and producer (Living Sacrifice) are well established. The partnership marks a vital new chapter in the celebrated history of DEMON HUNTER, who are currently marking their 10th year of writing, breaking and erasing the rules of hard rock. Not ones to rest on their laurels, however, the members have created an album that not only lives up to their own lofty standards, but sets a new high-water mark for what DH is capable of.
“We’ve been extremely underwhelmed with metal for the last five years or so, and that’s been the fuel to create this record,” Clark explains. “With an extreme over-saturation of false, fleeting, trend-hopping noise in today’s metal scene, we had to make something we’ve been longing to hear. Something truly meaningful and artistic. Something our fans would love and something that will turn the heads of those who have ignored us for the past decade.”
True Defiance marks DEMON HUNTER‘s first outing since 2010’s The World Is A Thorn, which debuted in the Billboard Top 40 and was hailed as the heaviest, fastest, and most aggressive record of the band’s career. The album yielded hit videos in “Collapsing,” which has racked up 1 million views online, and “LifeWar,” which was viewed over 100,000 times in the past month. The World is a Thorn was preceded by Storm the Gates of Hell (2007), The Triptych (2005), Summer of Darkness (2004) Demon Hunter (2002), and the three-disc CD / DVD set 45 Days, which collectively sold half a million copies and garnered airplay on college and specialty radio, Fuse and MTV2’s Headbangers Ball and earned the band cover features in publications like Revolver and HM.
True Defiance Track List:
1. Crucifix
2. God Forsaken
3. My Destiny
4. Wake
5. Tomorrow Never Comes
6. Someone To Hate
7. This I Know
8. Means To An End
9. We Don’t Care
10. Resistance
11. Dead Flowers
April 17 – Seattle WA @ El Corazon
April 30 – Kouvola, Finland @ Vappugospel
June 29 – Shirleysburg PA @ Creationfest Northeast
“Demon Hunter continues their meteoric rise in excellence on The World Is a Thorn, proving once again that the metalcore genre can be furthered with some thought and creative invention. (8/10)” -POP MATTERS
“Their most accessible and philosophically impassioned outing to date.” -THE PRP
“An aggressive and melodic masterpiece… their best work to date. (9/10)” -INDIE VISION MUSIC
“”This is Demon Hunter at their evolutionary peak, an amalgam of every iteration, every sound they’ve committed to 0’s and 1’s and it’s fantastic… a beautiful combination of old and new. (4.5/5)” -THE NEW REVIEW