Album Review:
The World Is A Thorn
By Demon Hunter
By Paul Gibson | March 8th, 2010 | Posted In Album Review
{March 9, 2010}
Solid State
The World Is A Thorn marks the entry of 2 new members in the Demon Hunter camp and the exit of 2 others. Ryan Helm, of The Ascendicate, replaced Don Clark on Guitar and Patrick Judge, who was already a touring guitarist and now, is a full-time member. Even though Demon Hunter has already had a myriad of players come and go, there is always trepidation when new members come into the mix, especially right before a new album.
But my fears have been laid to rest, with lethal shot to the ears.
Demon Hunter is better than ever.
WIAT showcases all things Demon Hunter and does it well. The writing, the grit, the singing, the shredding, the screaming, and the growling are perfect.
I don’t mean to fawn, but seriously, it is as good as it gets. Not only are the songs great, they work together to make a fantastic album listening experience.
“Just Breath” is brutal, brutal, brutal. I can already see a huge circle pit at Cornerstone this year coming as a result of this track. The vocals on this one have some of the best variation of any DH song to date with growls, gang shouts, clean vocals and some of the best metal agro growls ever.
“Blood In The Tears,” gives us the slowed dirg-ish goodness that practically takes your lighter/cell phone out for you and makes it hover above your head. Although, the vocal processing toward the end may come as a shock for some DH fans it is still one of their better slow/gothy tracks.
“Collapsing,” although not the best track on the album, is probably one of the best singles they have ever released. It is a good blend of the not-as-heavy but yet still-heavy elements that will allow it to do well on Christian Rock stations across the country.
“Tie This Around Your Neck” has a great metal grove to it that makes you want to do windmills till you need a neck brace.
I will admit, after Storm The Gates of Hell, I didn’t know if this one grab me, but it did, and now it won’t let go.
This is the best Demon Hunter album to date, The Tryptic has been bested.
~Paul Gibson
Favorite Tracks:
Tie This Around Your Neck
LifeWar
Just Breath
The World Is A Thorn
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This album is getting a little too much praise lately. It is a good album and does show some creativity as far as the guitar work goes. It is also lyrically strong, but I certainly wish that Demon Hunter would mention Jesus in their lyrics (something that has not been done once on any of their albums). Yes, they are Christians and a Christian band but I feel that they are also a little too secular for my taste. This album is absolutely no comparison to “Storm the gates of Hell”. It’s a decent album but in my opinion the choruses on every somg except “Driving Nails” is weak. It’s like they were written just to fill in a gap. It may take some time to grow on me (I’ll give it another try) but otherwise I find this offering to be a little on the bland side. I give it a 2.5 out of 5. “Storm the gates of Hell” will probably be their best album ever. In my opinion it just can’t be beat, but I will keep an open ear
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