Review: Hunter – Rock ‘N’ Roll V.I.P.
Metalopolis Records (May 10th 2024)
Reviewer: Jason Hopper
Hunter is not a band many may be familiar with, but they have roots dating back decades, releasing their debut ‘Sign of the Hunter‘ way back in 1985, when they tried making a name for themselves in their native land of Germany. A second album soon followed in 1987, and then things grew quiet for the band, with the press release vague on what caused the band to split up. They reunited in 2019, released the album ‘The Return‘ in 2020, experienced some line-up changes, and have come back to record ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll V.I.P.‘. Knowing nothing of the band, I decided to check out their new album.
After several playthroughs, I will say that listener bias will see the band’s influences as either a success or a liability. Hunter has a knack for mimicking their influences so close that the band runs the risk of not having their own style or identity.
It is not like that for all tracks. If I had to point to their brand of rock and roll, it would be an early 80s commercial metal groove. Tracks like ‘Hard to Survive’ ‘Demon of the Highway’ and ‘Runaway Ramp’ sound like bands of that era but not direct carbon copies.
Then there are tracks like ‘Who Needs the Devil (When You’re Already in Hell)’ which borrows so heavily from AC/DC that they make the band Airbourne jealous. One could say that same about the title track, but I hear a heavy dose of Buckcherry personally. Even my favorite track, the standout full-throttle heavy metal blast ‘Black Cat’ sounds like the greatest song Tygers of Pan Tang never wrote. To reiterate, some may see this as carbon copies while others will be impressed by the band’s ability to create solid hard rock, meat and potatoes riffage.
All the songs here have something to offer, even the instrumental closer ‘The Huntress’ is impressive, with numerous tempo changes and various strong sounding rhythms that does not overstay it’s welcome by wrapping up after four minutes. I’m not much for instrumentals but I would listen to this on a regular basis. However, there is one song that is completely ruined by its chorus. ‘Vegas Madness’ has a decent mid-tempo groove but a downbeat, minor key slog of a chorus. I imagine the band was trying to go for a dark vibe head trip, but it just ends up bringing the entire song down. I think you have to be high to enjoy that track.
Ultimately, Hunter does the trick for me. Yes, it’s all melodies and riffs that you have heard before. Some listeners surely will not give this album more than one play through, feeling they’ve heard this all before by other more popular bands in the genre. While this feels familiar to me, it does not feel old, or like I’ve heard it a thousand times before. That’s a testament to the band’s ability to construct melodies that have just enough of a variance to sound familiar yet stand out on their own. Opinions will surely vary with this one, but I would certainly suggest that you check them out. There’s a lot of strong material here.
Tracklist:
- Phoenix Rising
- Rock ‘n’ Roll V.I.P.
- Hard to Survive
- Runaway Ramp
- Who Needs the Devil (When You’re Already in Hell)
- Dust ‘n’ Bones
- Demon of the Highway
- Vegas Madness
- The Eagles Fly High
- Black Cat
- The Huntress
Metalopolis Records
ROCKPOSER DOT COM! 
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