A Review of Demon Hunter’s New Album “There Was a Light Here”

 Demon Hunter, the Christian hard rock/metal band founded in Seattle back in 2000 released their 12th studio album, “There Was a Light Here” on September 12th, and it continues the emotional, raw energy of their previous album “EXILE”, released in 2022, but still contains the driving, hard rock/metal tones that has defined the band in 25 years of existence. Today, I’ll be breaking this review down into three parts: the songs, the flow, and tone and giving them a rating out of five. 

The Songs 

With the common song length being around 4 minutes and 15 seconds roughly, with only three songs being longer than 4 minutes (“My Place In The Dirt”, “Breaking Through Me”, and “There Was A Light Here”). As a whole and individually, the songs are well-written and performed quite well, and work on their own or together in the album. The songs “I’m Done” and “Light Bends” have a consistent, driving rhythm to it, while the title track, “There Was a Light Here” has a haunting, slow and smooth sound to wrap up the album, bring closure to it, and act as a memoriam to Ryan Clark’s (the lead singer and frontman) mother, who died in 2023 and who the album is dedicated to. For me, the best song from the first half is going to be “Sorrow Light The Way” or maybe “My Place In The Dirt”, and for the second half, “Overwhelming Closure” or “There Was A Light Here” which always brings me to the verge of tears when I listen to it, it hits that hard.  

Rating: 4.5/5 

The Flow 

Coming in at a total listening time of 56 minutes and 47 seconds, “There Was A Light Here” has a slow, decreasing pace and drive which is seen after the end of “Ouroboros”, with a few high intensity songs towards the end, and eventually ends with the title track; however there are exceptions to this flow, as “Sorrow Light The Way” is softer than the songs around it, and “Hang The Fire” is more faster paced than the songs before and after it in the second half. The track “Overwhelming Closure” reminds me of some of their older songs, such as “My Heartstrings Come Undone”, as is has a similar emotional throb, but has the beat and drive of songs like “The Heart of a Graveyard”, and is one of my favorite songs by them from their post-COVID era. As I listened to it, there were some songs that seemed out of place and interrupted the flow of the album a bit, especially at the end of the track, but it did keep me on my toes, never knowing what pace the next song would have and whether it would make me more reflective and mellow out or get me up and energized. 

Rating: 5/5 

The Tone 

This is a tough one. It has to be one of the few Demon Hunter albums where I can listen to the whole thing and like ~almost~ every song on it, along with Extremist and Peace. However, I do struggle a bit with how it can sound at times, especially in the middle, as I can see myself listening to the album and wanting to skip the middle songs to get to the songs that I like better. The raw and emotional tone does reveal that Ryan Clark put a lot of thought and care into the songs, which I appreciate, since one of my biggest turn-offs with music is when a musician is only churning out songs to churn out songs (ahem, Manafest), because for me, they end of sounding forced, half-baked, and unappealing. The album also contains the classic Demon Hunter full throttle, pedal to the medal tone that fans have come to know and love, but it makes some songs like the title track feel out of place and unnatural. 

Rating: 3.5/5 

Conclusion 

Overall, this is a great album, and I hope Demon Hunter continues on this path for years to come. It feels raw, real, and awesome. The songs are great, the album is great, and the tone is still ok, but that just my thoughts. I hope that you go and listen to Demon Hunter and their new album “There Was A Light Here” right after reading this. Seriously. Go listen to the album. Let it change your life. 

Final Rating: 4.3/5

“There Was A Light Here is available wherever you listen to music. Demon Hunter goes on their “There Was A Light Here” tour starting September 20th.