Demon Hunter
Exile


2.5
average

Review

by pizzamachine USER (635 Reviews)
November 2nd, 2022 | 131 replies


Release Date: 2022 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Booooooring.

If you’re looking for a Demon Hunter album with mind blowing riffs and originality you found the wrong album. Let’s not dig into the lyrics, it’s insipid, generic Christian “poetry” about darkness, light, Heaven, etc. Instead, let’s discuss the lack of riffs here. Bangers are few and far between, with Devotion being one of the only potentially memorable songs, due to decently catchy riffs. The rest of the album is a missed opportunity. You can especially hear their creative brain failing in Freedom Is Dead, which brings shades of Lifewar while attempting some dancey punk amongst the pretend nu-metal - it’s confused.

Exile is full of the alt metal Demon Hunter like to play when they run out of ideas. Forget death metal, there’s barely any touched on this holy ground. Riffs fit the bill but pale in comparison to their previous releases, and the fact that singing and choruses is the focus is not an excuse. The latest Alter Bridge album has more riffs that are also more creative. The guitar work here is lots of chugs and chords, so tiring and safe that it naturally produces melatonin.

Beyond the safe riffs and generic, forgettable songwriting there is also uninspired singing. This is the final nail in the coffin, a nail which truly kills Demon Hunter. The singing here is so bland, so basic that the frontman hits notes with the emotion of a stapler. I’ll go one further: he’s also loud for no reason like a printer. Ryan Clark has never sounded more bored than this, for shame.

The irony of this album sucking is there is a bit of ambition behind the release. Exile is a concept album set in the end times and Ryan wrote a comic series which explores the album’s lyrical content. Too bad the the lyrics are garbage eh? There’s also a handful of guest features which are wasted in these tedious tracks. In the end, Exile is a barely passable album, with tracks that are dull but not obnoxiously terrible.



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user ratings (73)
3
good


Comments:Add a Comment 
Minortimbo12
November 2nd 2022


1648 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Agree but don't. Album is like 3.5. With what I listened to

ChrimzonCanine
November 2nd 2022


2080 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

Sweet album cover. Will check this out anyways

ThyCrossAwaits
November 2nd 2022


4052 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

Album suuuuuuuucks. Good review.

mkmusic1995
Contributing Reviewer
November 2nd 2022


2025 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

Hit the nail on the head with this one! pos'd

ChrimzonCanine
November 2nd 2022


2080 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

So yeah this was surprisingly bland :|

Looks like the band finally lost their stride

Rolling Girl
November 2nd 2022


2063 Comments

Album Rating: 1.0

short, sweet, pos

Minortimbo12
November 2nd 2022


1648 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Whats gonna be #400, pizza?

ChrimzonCanine
November 2nd 2022


2080 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

Good. My asshole is ready

Minortimbo12
November 2nd 2022


1648 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

imagine

Minortimbo12
November 2nd 2022


1648 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

O_o

Minortimbo12
November 2nd 2022


1648 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

I actualy stuffed a pepper in my ass once as a dare

as a teen

mkmusic1995
Contributing Reviewer
November 2nd 2022


2025 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

hmm

ISeeDarkly
November 3rd 2022


39 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off

Anyone else notice that the mixing on this is severely, painfully bad in many sections? Vocals are buried in half of these tunes.

Darkwatch025
November 3rd 2022


432 Comments


Agree! I actually like a lot of the songs on here, but the mixing is pretty bad. The album just feels really watered and uninspired to me.

Rolling Girl
November 3rd 2022


2063 Comments

Album Rating: 1.0

Yeah the production feels very bland and almost flat?? Did the whole team just phone it in on this one?

mkmusic1995
Contributing Reviewer
November 3rd 2022


2025 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

I can get past the flat production, the songwriting is the real drawback on this one. Every song is just so basic, the vocal melodies are extremely boring and every attempt at being 'heavy' feels so forced and unnatural.

Evangelancer
November 3rd 2022


34 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

This is the most "okay"-ist release I've heard in a long time.

ISeeDarkly
November 4th 2022


39 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off

The whole package is just mediocre. And many elements are the worst of any DH effort to date. Most lacking in musical identity — this feels like a mish-mashed smorgasbord of tones, instrumentation, and themes. Worst mixing/mastering I’ve heard in any DH release. Blandest vocals — where are the harmonies and vocal layers? Most incomplete — PRAISE THE VOID sounds like a first-pass demo; nowhere near a complete song. I could go on.



TRMshadow
November 4th 2022


5119 Comments


How does a band have 11+ albums and still not figure out a new cover design?

Beardog
November 4th 2022


5392 Comments


Production is quite bad, and so are the vocals. Sadly there aren't that many redeemable factors left for this band but I do think the record isn't that bad. First four tracks are awesome, and there are some bangers sprinkled across the latter half.

I really am not a fan of the review, it sounds like a rant of somebody that wouldn't enjoy a thing DH ever has written... They never had good riffing, never sounded like death metal, and always had the 'generic Christian poetry', that is kind of their thing haha



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