Hunter and their Rebel Angels Rise in a combined century of heavy metal
Rebel Angels Rise brings you a barrage of pure metal with a variety of influences, highs and lows, speed and slows, screams and grunts, sizzling riffs and twin solos. Hunter’s second album shows maturity in song writing
Hello Hunter! How are you? A pleasure to interview you.
Joost: Hi there, doing fine, thanks. The pleasure is all mine.
I understand that the band emerged in 2016, so you are relatively young. But its members already had experience from previous projects. Tell us how did the idea of creating the band come up?
Joost: We have been playing together in one form or another since 2000, for instance in projects like Crusader, Monster Joe and Megasonic, and several cover/tribute bands as well. In 2016 we just all felt it was the time to do a new originals band.
David: We finally figured out that we all wanted to do the same thing, and our taste in music and creating new heavy metal is very compatible. When I noticed how well it was all falling in place, I could kick myself for not realizing this a lot sooner.
Who are the current members and what bands they came from?
Joost: Thomas Abeel — lead guitar: he’s the new kid, only been with us since 2012 or so 🙂 he was in Megasonic with Dries
Dries Deturck — drums: was in Crusader and Monster Joe with me and Megasonic with Thomas, together with Jeroen we’ve been in a band almost without interruption since 2000
Joost Vlasschaert — lead guitar: Crusader and Monster Joe are the notable bands I’ve been in this century before doing Hunter
David Walgrave — vocals: Crusader and Psycho Virgin Teen
Jeroen Wauters — bass: Monster Joe, the third member of the long lasting triumvirate
While I was preparing this interview at the same time I was listening to “Rebel Angels Rise” and I must say I enjoyed it a lot, so congratulations!
Joost: Thank you, it’s always nice to get a good reaction. We put a lot of effort into making the best possible album.
Let’s talk about this new release, because the truth is that I was completely surprised by the sound of it, it took me back to the 80’s and 90’s when bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest among others were blowing everyone’s ears off.
Did legends like these serve as a base to define the band’s musical style?
Joost: We did not set out to sound like any specific band. Of course, we’ve all been listening to heavy metal for decades and all those influences are obvious in the music we write. Iron Maiden and Judas Priest are titans in the world of heavy metal, their influence is everywhere. But we don’t try to copy them or any other band.
“Rebel Angels Rise” has 8 songs and each one has its own distinctive touch.
What did you base the songs on to give life to each one of them?
Personal experiences maybe, how the world is right now?
Tell us about it?
David: It’s usually a guitarist and sometimes the bassist that introduces a new song idea with a riff. We work together as a band to write a song around it. We usually record a preliminary instrumental version of the song. I then take the recording home so that I can come up with vocal lines and lyrics. When I hear the riffs, I get an atmosphere from it, for instance, some songs sound very aggressive, other songs sound sad, other songs sound triumphant. That’s my first inspiration. Then, I hear sounds in my head that make the most sense over the chorus or the verse. These sounds are not necessarily actual words, just things that sound really well. When I know the feel of the song, and the sounds I wanna go for, I start looking for the actual topic, and that can be poetry, literature, movies and the bible. I think you’re right in that some things are inspired by what I’m going through or thinking about at that time.
Maybe it was luck of fate, but a few days after the release of this album you are called to perform at the Alcatraz Open Air. I mean, if that’s not luck I don’t know what else it could be.
Tell us about this, how did you take the news?
How was the experience of playing at this festival?
Joost: Obviously it was a very pleasant surprise to get asked to play such a prestigious event. We are honored that the Alcatraz organization thought of us to replace a legend like Fifth Angel.
The festival day itself was awesome. Bands are treated extremely well at Alcatraz and we had a great day. We had a good size crowd for our gig, so I think we made some new fans and got our name out to a lot of people.
It has been barely 1 month since the release of the new album.
How have the reviews been, in general, both by the public and the specialized press?
Joost: Reviews so far have been overwhelmingly positive. We made a major step forward and it shows in the general appreciation of the album.
Where is it possible to get a copy of it?
You can get a copy through our Bandcamp page : https://huntermetal.bandcamp.com Rebel Angels Rise is also available on all music streaming services.
Back to the band. What are the next plans? Do you already have upcoming shows planned?
Joost: We are busy booking shows for 2024, so far we have a couple of festival gigs confirmed for 2024 and even 2025. We’ve already begun writing songs for the next album, it shouldn’t be a four year wait this time!
Well Hunter, that’s all. Thank you for your time and wish you all the best of luck and success in your career. Before we finish, something you want to say.
Joost: Thank you for taking the time to talk to us. The underground lives because of the fans, so stay metal!
You can find all there is to know about Hunter on our website : www.huntermetal.be
Links
Bandsintown: https://www.bandsintown.com/a/15470426-hunter-(be)
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