Demon Hunter have simultaneously released two albums of material that divides up their more melodic side from their heavier darker side in the albums War and Peace, both of which are filled with heavy riffs, strong vocals, and catchy hooks and choruses…essentially treating fans to two normal albums of material at once bound by the theme, “War in every breath / Peace in only death.”

For those who haven’t heard of Demon Hunter, the band was formed in 2000 by brothers Ryan and Don Clark who at the time were also in the chaotic Training for Utopia, which is another band worth checking out.  Over the years the band has released 10 albums, won numerous Dove Awards for their music, been featured on soundtracks, become a staple on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball, toured and played shows with some of the biggest bands (Ozzy, Kiss, Marilyn Manson, Gojira), headlined festivals like Rock the Desert and Uprise Fest, and even by 2010 had sold over 500,000 albums.  A regular on the Billboard charts, War and Peace were #7 and #8 n the Billboard current albums chart as of March 12, and #2 and #3 in the Hard Rock category.  As one might imagine, the band has gone through some lineup changes over the years, most notably in 2009 when brother Don Clark left the band for family and career reasons.  Since 2011, when Jeremiah Scott joined on rhythm guitar, the lineup has been stable and over the course of the band’s history, the guitar roles have been the ones most likely to change, with the lone exception of original drummer Jesse Sprinkle being replaced by Tim “Yogi” Watts in 2004. Similar to their last two albums, Outlive (2017) and Extremist (2014), War and Peace were produced by guitarist Jeremiah Scott and mixed by Zeuss (Rob Zombie, Queensrÿche, Hatebreed), who once again have perfectly captured the band’s metal heaviness that is balanced with the powerful melodies the band is known for. Continue reading »