Demon Hunter

The Christian metal band Demon Hunter hails from Seattle, Washington, where brothers Don Clark and Ryan Clark launched the group in 2000. The siblings had previously played together in Neurosis and Coalesce, two bands whose hard-edged sound helped lay the foundation for Demon Hunter's mix of metalcore and nu metal. The band's debut single, "Through the Black," appeared on the Christian compilation This is Solid State Vol. 3 in early 2002, and Demon Hunter's self-titled debut album arrived later that year. Summer of Darkness followed in 2004, reaching Number 23 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart and receiving support from the secular community, as well, thanks to heavy airplay on MTV's Headbangers Ball. 2005's The Triptych reached Number 1 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers listing, as well as Number 10 on Top Christian Albums and Number 136 on the Billboard 200. By the end of the decade, Demon Hunter had officially become a Top 40 act on the Billboard 200, where the album The World Is a Thorn reached Number 39 in 2010. The World Is a Thorn also reached Number 2 on Top Christian Albums, as did the band's four follow-up releases. Despite Demon Hunter's continued support from Christian fans, the group's audience now included both sacred and secular communities. This widespread popularity was exemplified by albums like 2014's Extremist, which reached Number 16 on the Billboard 200, Number 2 on Top Hard Rock Albums, and Number 5 on Top Rock Albums. Extremist also featured "The Last One Alive," the band's fifth Number 1 hit on the Christian Rock chart. Outlive followed in 2017, earning two additional Number 1 hits with "Cold Winter Sun" and "Died In My Sleep." Demon Hunter finished the decade with the companion albums War and Peace, then returned to the upper reaches of the Top Christian Albums' chart with 2001's Songs of Death and Resurrection and 2022's Exile.