Demon Hunter - This Far

Demon Hunter... one of my favorite bands of all time, even before I truly started following Christ. They tend to sound more secular than Christian despite the label, but when you dig into their lyrics and themes, it's pretty clear. They don't compromise for anything though, and I think that's what has kept them alive and thriving.

One of the things that this band showed me, not intentionally but just by their mere existence, is how weird the metal scene actually is culturally. Look, I am not on social media all that often. I have spurts of senseless scrolling periods, but ultimately I just don't like to exist chronically online. So a lot of the gatekeeping, drama, and culture of metal in general, I am far isolated from, but I have periods where I get to watch it from afar - as someone who loves metal, but isn't actually in any of it's scenes or culture.

People labeled as "metal guys" are vocal as anything else online. They tend to be hyper passionate, and with that passion in a genre like this, comes a lot of desensitization of what is the typical person's listening habits. I've mentioned before that most folks are passive listeners, or they are looking for something that metal just generally isn't. Here's the thing though; if you're a Nascar driver, constantly racing, working on your car, and all that jazz, it's going to feel different from your 200mph race track, to then hop into your Toyota Camry and drive 35mph through roads. In addition, you understand tight turns, tricks, and mechanics that most others don't; you see vehicles from a different perspective.

This is where the culture/scene loses me. It seems like this welcoming scene for all newcomers and fans alike, being a place of acceptance and love... which it can be, but it's also an echo chamber, and the people want it to be that way too. They get so used to metal, it's extremes, and all the things that come along with heavy music, that they tend to reject anything outside of it.

However, that's actually small majority of them. Bands I listen to are mostly the bigger ones, with fans that are far more normal than they are neckbeards. This is where Demon Hunter comes in... towing a very fine line between a lot of things where they made a space for themselves to sit and carry a career on. Let's talk about why.

Demon Hunter doesn't exist in an echo chamber, and from interviews, I think they did this intentionally. They are unashamedly Christian, but their music sounds like secular music. They talk about faith, but the name of Jesus isn't slaughtered across their music (whether you think that's a good or bad thing is up to you). The themes, Biblical thoughts, and God is though. They've managed to get played far outside of the Christian scene. They are reaching the lost.

There is no echo chamber more potent than that of the Christian scene in general, but also Christian metal makes it worse. Metal came onto the scene in the 70's, early 80's and just shocked people. It was different, scary, and often contained themes that folks would deem inappropriate. While yes, Christian metal does have a decent following, the problem is that the Christian scene and culture in general... still doesn't accept it, whereas the mainstream culture has. Christians never embraced it. It's only been in recent times that they've actually learned to accept some rock in the scene. That echo chamber does exist for Christian metal, and it's got a large following now because it can easily be discovered by those who are looking, but it's still by and far, an echo chamber. Nothing has yet to bust down the walls.

Demon Hunter treads a very interesting line; while still being Christian, their music, themes, and lyrics allow them to be more than just Christian metal. I think this had made well for their long lasting career and growing fanbase. While being unrelenting in their Christian values, they are not worship, like say Bloodlines.

Songwriting is something that just never is great in metal. If this is controversial to you, then take a step back for a moment; often metal is written for the sake of metal, or for other musicians. It doesn't come off and have the same appeal to a broad audience that say pop, country, or hip hop does, making actual songs for a broad audience to connect to. Before any progressive guy wants to tell you how music theory played into some bands 10 minute masterpiece of a song, remember, no one actually cares about that. When you make highly technical riffs and you're fascinated by the talent, remember no one outside of people like you care about that. Most normal folks are simply looking for hooks, repetition, and connection - aka they want a song that is relatable and feels good.

Demon Hunter does this really well. They write songs; not just make art for specific crowds. In that, they have retained a long career that allows them to hit many markets, those internal to metal, and those outside of metal. Turn on any song from the last, I don't know, 10 years; it's a song. It's metal because of screaming, heavy guitars, and double bass. Otherwise, it's songs written for mass audiences, relatable and simple lyrics, of course with Christian undertones.

Fight me. It's my opinion.

Both these scenes are alive and well, and to be honest, I was surprised to find that Christian music has a pretty big hardcore underground scene. I mean after digging into hardcore, the culture, and what "straight edge" was, it started to make a lot more sense.

Metalcore over the last decade has just taken over in the metal world, being one of the only genres that breaks the wall into the mainstream. It's because again, bands in metalcore tend to write songs... not just make music art or whatever you want to call it. "Just Pretend" is a prime example here. You've heard it if you scrolled on TikTok in the past couple of years.

Demon Hunter... has roots in both and writes songs. Thus they've centered and positioned themselves to reach so many people.

Ryan, their front man, is also an artist. In fact, all the branding, designs, and their iconic demon logo... yeah that's all his. Even with Exile, the comics, videography, merch... yeah again him and his friends. I can't remember exactly what his day job is, but it's in the same vein. The artistry and intent has always been there, less a second thought to the music, and more of equal importance.

Let's also consider that they have their own label now. If that doesn't tell you everything, then I don't know what does. This isn't just a band, it's also a business. And if you're in a band trying to make it big somewhere, then consider this a MUST. You can't just throw your passions out into the world and just magically expect money to flow in... no, especially in music. It's building a brand, gathering an audience, creating fans, and then giving fans the value they want. From The Blessed Resistance fan club, unique merch, artwork, etc. they have done well to turn this thing into something.

The other part of business and branding is association. They are metal. They are Christian. Ryan has lent his vocals to so many guest vocal spots, that it's hard not to realize where some of the fans come from. In addition, they guests they've brought in as well, have the same effect but backwards. Being Christian, some of their more, pop or light rock songs over the year made it onto radio. Think about it; out of all of the Christian metal scene, what secular media streams cover them on album release and tour? It's not all, but it's a lot for a band in the Christian metal scene.

All of this has made them sustainable. They're here to stay.

The music will always keep me around, and their faith keeps me listening. I feel like a lot of their music has grown with me. They are quite a talented band that makes great songs that connect with a lot of people in different ways.

Add on top of that their branding, timing, and scene involvement, and you just have a recipe for at least some mild success. They aren't rich, but they also aren't some random band where one single has 10 million hits and none of the rest of their songs go beyond like 200. They aren't an underground band, they also really aren't in mainstream culture either.

They are in a space of their own. I am glad they exist. That is all.

Note: You may noticed that I posted this a few days after their new album release. No, there isn't a review yet. I need to let it sit. It will come though at some point.