Not a Safe Band
That's what lead vocalist Ryan Clark says about his band Demon Hunter—but in reference to their gospel message and varied influences, not their heavy metal persona.
by Jackie A. Chapman | posted 1/28/2008
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Lead singer Ryan Clark (center) and the rest of Demon Hunter are passionate about meeting youth where they are—including the darkest places.
For many, the term "Christian heavy metal band" is something of a paradox, even after years of Petra, Stryper, and other bands as evidence to the contrary. Still, some feel that Demon Hunter appears scarier than most, from their symbolic skull on the album covers to their hardcore metal sound with guttural screams. And yet ironically, few metal bands have made as much an effort to vary their sound and make hardcore metal more musical, or taken as much to explain what the band is about—meeting young listeners where they are to share the love of Christ. Lead singer and songwriter Ryan Clark explains the thinking that went into the making of Demon Hunter's latest record, Storm the Gates of Hell.
What are some topics you covered in Storm the Gates of Hell?
Ryan Clark The overarching subjects are depression, feeling like an outcast, and feeling alone in your principles and morals. There is a song called "Thorns" that addresses cutting. Songs like "Fading Away" and "Lead Us Home" talk about slipping away spiritually, whether through the monotony of daily life or by living life without giving much attention to the spiritual side of things. And then there are a number of songs like "Storm the Gates of Hell" that are anthemic in terms of standing for your beliefs and being proud of being a Christian.
How do you decide what topics to include?
Clark An email from a fan will strike a nerve. We tackle issues that we hear about through the news and people around us. Sometimes it involves personal issues where I can offer some perspective. They also come from the media surrounding us as a nation and generation today. Some themes come from research that I do on non-Christian bands. I like to know what other bands are saying so that I might know what message young people might be clinging to through their music.
As a generic example, a secular artist might say something disparaging or incorrect about Christians in their song, [so] I give my rebuttal in our own stuff. Sometimes a particular line in another band's song catches and resonates with me when I'm writing and I find a place to insert my take on it in our music. It's not about calling out any particular band as wrong, but more about sharing the other side of those beliefs through different parts of a Demon Hunter record.
In gathering from multiple sources like that, how do you feel equipped to address issues like cutting, depression, suicide?
Clark Depression is not something that I deal with on a daily basis, and some of these issues come from experiences of people around me, but I write more from an understanding of where those issues are rooted, of what kinds of things lead to that—the thoughts that you're alone, you're an outcast, and you're not worth people's time. I write from an understanding where those thoughts snowball into feelings of suicide. Those roots are very detrimental, and when putting a song together, I feel like we are attacking a whole issue, all the way down to its roots.
How much overt spirituality do you put in your songs?
Clark Teens and young people are bombarded with all kinds of worldly gratification and worldly solutions to everyday issues and problems. I think that even though it can be a taboo or shunned subject, the subject of spirituality will enter everyone's life—the question of what they believe to be true and how they deal with that question. Whether churched or not, offering youth the Christian perspective via church might not be enough to reach out and grab their attention. So we aim to reach them on their level in music without dumbing down the message, but instead aiming to understand them, their culture, and the situations they experience.
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