hard rock

Demon Hunter

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Seattle outfit founded by the Clark brothers, alternating crushing groove with big melodic choruses — faith-driven heaviness and a designer's eye for its own iconography.

Demon Hunter formed in Seattle in 2000 around brothers Don and Ryan Clark, who had previously played together in the more experimental band Training for Utopia; Ryan had also played guitar in the hardcore band Focal Point as a teenager. The band initially hid its members' identities in photos and press, revealing them only once touring began.

The self-titled debut, released in 2002 on Solid State Records, was written entirely by the Clarks, who played most of the instruments themselves and brought in Jesse Sprinkle to record drums. Touring lineups soon filled out with Sprinkle, bassist Jon Dunn and guitarist Kris McCaddon, alongside first tours with bands including Extol and The Agony Scene.

The band's second album, Summer of Darkness, released in 2004, pushed the group beyond Christian metal circles: a music video reached MTV2's Headbangers Ball, and a single appeared on the Resident Evil: Apocalypse soundtrack. Guest vocalists on the record included Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage and Trevor McNevan of Thousand Foot Krutch.

The Triptych, released the following year with new guitarist Ethan Luck and drummer Timothy Watts, outsold its predecessor within its first week and included a cover of Prong's "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck." Across these records, and the ones that followed, the band kept moving metalcore and groove metal in and out of melodic choruses.

Don Clark's background in graphic design shaped the band's visual identity, from its logo and album covers to its merchandise, unusually consistent for a band in the genre. He left the band in 2009, leaving Ryan as the only remaining original member, and Demon Hunter has since sold more than 600,000 albums while remaining associated with Solid State Records.

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hard rock