Outlive Album Review

Demon Hunter is my favorite band. Have been for a decade. First time I heard "Not Ready to Die", I was hooked. I was super excited for their first release in 3 years, and their 8th studio album, "Outlive". This is a stretch for them musically. There is the typical in your face pulsating metal sound that you come to expect.

The opening track, "Trying Times", has aspects of Ryan Clark's side project "Nyves" throughout the track, and then it flows seamlessly into the typical DH Metal track, Jesus Wept (which is the first time in their album history they have used the name "Jesus". Kind of surprising)

Cold Winter Sun is the first song I heard released off the album, with a lyric video that premiered on YouTube back at the beginning of the year. It reminds me of a few songs off of "Extremist" Heavy rock, radio friendly. I do like how Ryan hits a falsetto right before going into his trademark growl. Guitarist Patrick Judge wrote the lyrics to this song, but there is one line that still gets me as gramattically incorrect: "we are the kingdom come, we are come undone". Trying to figure out what he meant by that. Otherwise it's a powerful song.

Next track is "Died in my Sleep" Starts out with a nice electronic loop and then goes straight to some nice guitar work and Yogi's signature drum beats. Another nice heavy radio-friendly track. And I like how Ryan once again hits the falsetto in the chorus "Died in my sleep, oo-oo-oo-"

Next up is Half as Dead: starts out with almost a '90s grunge sound with a distorted drum beat before the guitars hit. I really like the chorus "Before I go to sleep, bury me 3 feet deep because I'm not half as dead as you".

Cold Blood is track 6, the halfway point. This song is the typical Demon Hunter rock your face off and make you go ballistic metal! Ryan scream sings the verses and the chorus.

One Step Behind starts out with a bizarre keyboard reminiscent of "Heart of the Graveyard", the final cut of the "Extremist" album. This could almost be considered the ballad of the album. Ryan sings in his normal singing voice and I'm blown away.

Raining Blood starts out with another electronic loop before the guitars and Yogi's pulsating drums come in. Another heavy radio-friendly track.

Once the next track, "One Less" comes in, it will definitely get your attention. Ryan is screaming at you, and in the verse, the guitars and Yogi's double-bass pedals are playing in sync. This is a metal track for sure, and is definitely the heaviest track. Ryan has a high-pitched scream before going into his growl.

Track 10 is a song called "Patience" starts out with a nice piano. I actually really like how it goes from the piano to the rock sound, and Ryan sings in his normal voice. Kind of reminds me of Follow the Wolves on the "Storm The Gates of Hell" album.

Track 11 is called "Slight the Odds" and it starts out with strings. It definitely reminds me of "Sixteen" also from the "Storm..." album. The strings fade beautifully while the drums build up and the track and volume gradually progress before Ryan's vocals come in.

The final track is called "The End" (Although I'm playing this from my iTunes library so I think 11 and 12 may be out of order). It's more reminiscent of other radio-friendly rock songs throughout the album.

To sum it up, I LIKE this album, but it's not their best, which in my opinion, are Storm The Gates of Hell (2007) and True Defiance (2012).  I like that there is the typical in your face metal screaming pulsating drums and crazy guitar solos that we have come to expect from Demon Hunter. I like that they show maturation and experimentation in their sound. I really like how my Ryan's voice has grown, and the first album where he has actually hit a falsetto in a few of the tracks. A solid album.