ALBUM REVIEW: The Dry Land – Huntsmen

When the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in 2020 the world was thrown into a collective tailspin, and four years on, it’s arguably yet to recover. Lockdowns might be a thing of the past, but there’s been little respite for the average Joe on the street. For the majority, life keeps getting harder, but the world is trying to start again, somewhere between disaster and rebirth. And it’s this halfway house between devastation and hope that HUNTSMEN explore on their latest album The Dry Land.

While The Dry Land is punctuated with narratives around death and destruction, the album is most intriguing when exploring the void between extremes. Stylistically it touches on everything from black metal to folk and Americana. Its only constant is a rich tapestry of melodies, fuzzy guitars, and stunningly polished production. By slipping between genres and styles, the music itself mirrors the overarching themes of the album.

The record begins in turmoil with This, Our Gospel hurling the listener into a whirlwind of thundering guitars and hammering drums. But from the madness comes calm with the arrival of the vocals, almost chanted, creating a ceremonial feel. The ensuing six minutes is an array of tempo changes, jumps between darkness and light, deft musical touches, and heavy metal aggression.  The addition of Aimee Bueno-Knipe on vocals gives not only this song but the album as a whole another intriguing layer.

Cruelly Dawns begins much more slowly but the air of menace remains. The guitar playing throughout the introduction is dripping in blues influence and evil intentions, its brooding nature not-so-subtly hinting at the darkness to come. In terms of vocal style the religious overtones remain, but the way the male and female voices intertwine pulls the listener in like a forbidden lullaby.

The thing with HUNTSMEN is that you don’t listen to their music, so much as experience it. The album has a cinematic quality that means you can’t just have it on in the background, you need to engage with it, and let it wash over you. Ultimately this is both a gift and a curse. Three of the six songs are over four minutes and the three longest are over seven-and-a-half. This means that if you’re not all in, it’s easy to get lost and drift away.

After an intense first two tracks, things take a left turn with Lean Times. The first half of the song is largely acoustic, moving away from doom metal and into folk and Americana. The switch works as a palate cleanser until the fuzzy whirring guitars return. Lead single In Time, All Things sees the band return to the idea of the in-between, and the space between life and death. Its full-throttle opening engulfs the listener, but that quickly fades away, leaving an enchanting vocal to lead the way. However, by halfway, the heaviness is back with a vengeance. The guitar solo that buzzes through the second half adds another glorious layer, sitting in the mix rather than towering over it. And that leads to the kind of guttural scream usually reserved for your favourite horror movie.

The intro to Rain is at the other end of the scale when it comes to intensity, but it stays cloaked in intrigue. Its opening flickers sound like the patterns of a heartbeat, and the guitar riff conjures images of the Wild West. But the passion is soon ramped up by a powerful performance from Bueno-Knipe against desperate and depraved male vocals. Unfortunately, the album ends on a misstep with The Herbsight. All the HUNTSMEN staples are there – the contrasts, the blend of vocals, and the bleak, hellish soundscape – but it fails to capture the imagination like tracks such as This, Our Gospel. The second half might be almost four minutes of wild chaos, but the song takes too long to get there.

The Dry Land is a fluctuating soundscape of emotions; not all are comfortable. At its best, the album could act as a soundtrack to a dark and moody crime drama like True Detective, but the meandering has its downsides. As the music drifts, it’s occasionally too easy for the listener’s attention to follow suit. However, when HUNTSMEN hit top form, there’s no stopping them. The contrasts balance perfectly. On the surface, the album is just bleak, both sonically and lyrically, but the rich sound and production give it incredible depth. The Dry Land isn’t always the most straightforward listen, but it’s undeniably rewarding.

Rating: 7/10

The Dry Land is set for release on June 7th via Prosthetic Records. 

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