Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Rules, like cliches, are meant not only be broken, but they are also there to be smashed, destroyed, never put in place in the first instance; for if we abide by the rules, then the defiance of transgression in art is a criminal act, and the only point that will Deliver Us from the beige and the obsession with dull routine is one that delights in placing all human emotions into the same category and the same state of mind.
It is this evil that we need to shout out with ferocious intent, to be delivered from a world of hegemony ruled by plastic, cold killjoys; and the world of art is the finest example of where transgression, contravention, the so-called offense of insubordination, and the revolution can take place. It is a world where the Hunted fight back, where those who seek a higher purpose can, and must, deliver salvation through their own interpretation of the benefit of the individual mind and the group collective that wants to see dull slaughtered, skewered on the rack of unpopular indifference.
The world of Progressive Heavy Metal may have its roots in classic groups such as Queensryche, in albums such as Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son by Iron Maiden, but time itself has moved on from these early scintillating examples of the genre, and the new breed of musicianship, of earnest 21st Century introspective must be allowed the room to breathe and deliver their own valuable sense of exorcism of the untenable path that is constant compliance and its relation to the perceived norm.
For fans of the Welsh Progressive Metal band Hunted, Deliver Us may seem as though it has had a long gestation period, but a lengthy break between recordings can often be a sign of intelligent understanding. For burn out is the curse of modern living, and it is better to be reflective and return to the forefront with absolute certainty, than to wither under the scrutiny of lights and fading appreciation.
A decade on from the band’s first release, Welcome The Dead, Chris G, Steven Barberini, John Letson and Matt Thomas return with the splendid and diverse driven Deliver Us, an album that understands its Progressive nature, but isn’t afraid to strike out itself from the oblique and respectful duty of its own genre, and as tracks such as Salvation On A String, The Black Shore, the excellent One More Time, The Lie, and Time Will Tell play out with delicate timing and precision from the quartet, what hits home is the complexity of human intuition when it is allowed to surface, when individual thought is permitted to be expressed within the group dynamic.
Deliver Us from the evil of conformity, but always be respectful of what you brought with you from out of the dark and into the light, in the case of the Hunted, they have brought belief along for the ride, and it is a welcome sight to behold, an aural lesson in the faith of their own conviction which marks this second album as a must listen to piece of art.
Hunted release Deliver Us on September 10th.
Ian D. Hall