The Hunter (2011)
This is quite a terrific ride. It's joyful to see them continue in the vein of "Crack the Skye", but opening up even more and tending more towards vitality. This nearly breaks down their career-long curse of solemnity; and replaced their broken mythological themes with lighter fare - the lyrics are a sort of hybrid between heavier alternative rock and indie.
They don't sound as "goddamn serious" anymore - in a good way - and finally relax their hypertensive attack, even placing a couple of power ballads on the record, without making them singles or boring interludes. I think this is all a reflection that they have finally settled on a sound and gotten comfortable, both artistically and commercially. They definitely deserve everything they've managed to achieve, and I'm glad to be able to enjoy them again, of late (including Crack the Skye), for the first time since their 2000 9-song demo dropped.
rating: [3 / 5]
play time: 58 minutes
download @ mediafire
This is quite a terrific ride. It's joyful to see them continue in the vein of "Crack the Skye", but opening up even more and tending more towards vitality. This nearly breaks down their career-long curse of solemnity; and replaced their broken mythological themes with lighter fare - the lyrics are a sort of hybrid between heavier alternative rock and indie.
They don't sound as "goddamn serious" anymore - in a good way - and finally relax their hypertensive attack, even placing a couple of power ballads on the record, without making them singles or boring interludes. I think this is all a reflection that they have finally settled on a sound and gotten comfortable, both artistically and commercially. They definitely deserve everything they've managed to achieve, and I'm glad to be able to enjoy them again, of late (including Crack the Skye), for the first time since their 2000 9-song demo dropped.
rating: [3 / 5]
play time: 58 minutes
download @ mediafire
