- The Dear HunterAs June winds down so too shall my regular posting return. For now I just had to share my latest obsession: The Dear Hunter.
Phil just randomly asked me if I had heard of them the other day, to which I responded I hadn't. So I hit up their MySpace page and within the first song I was hooked. I listened to everything else they had up on their page and then proceeded to add all of their stuff to my iTunes.
I am now addicted.
Like fellow contemporary prog rockers Coheed and Cambria and Muse, The Dear Hunter hits all the right notes for me. It has a sweeping, epic feel to it from layered, complicated composition and raw, emotional vocals. Unlike those other bands, The Dear Hunter does crazy complicated vocal work as well and at times will remind people of Queen and other 70's over the top rock. In fact, there's a wide variety of influences to be found in their discography. There's some spirituals influence along with some blues and even some ragtime mixed on there. It makes the band very capable of telling their huge, six act story they have planned.
While I have seen comparisons to post-hardcore groups (that no doubt spring from singer Casey Crescenzo having previously been in a decidedly post-hardcore band) like Circa Survive, Saosin and Finch, it's just not there. I like all three of those bands, but a quick listen to something like The Oracles on the Delphi Express compared to something like Saosin's Keep Secrets shows just how not post-hardcore The Dear Hunter is; it's progressive as anything else out there.
My only complaint is that as the band continues, they seem to become more homogenized in their sound. I hope this is more a function of the story then the group becoming more narrow in their approach to songcrafting. But that's a small complaint, there's not a bad track by these guys.
