I’ve been a fan of the band Demon Hunter for as long as they’ve been around. I no longer remember how I came across their debut album in 2002, but as an avid listener of Christian metal, their music has always appealed to me.
I have felt, as some fans do, that they’ve mellowed a bit as their careers have progressed. There are still heavy songs, but more frequent are the melodic ones where Ryan Clark (the lead vocalist) sings rather than screams. Their latest album, as of this writing, anyway, is Exile, released 19 years after their debut, and they’re showing no signs of slowing down.
For the first time, however, with Exile the band tried their hand at a concept album. As such, it didn’t connect with me as quickly as previous ones did. (In particular, Songs of Death and Resurrection is the most emotional to me, but I digress.) As I listen to it more, however, I find it awakening emotions and memories.
The strongest reaction I’ve had was after listening to the song Along the Way. I had bought the companion book with the album, and something Ryan wrote struck me in the heart:
As I thought about the trip itself, it occurred to me that life is a journey right up until the end. You never really get to where you’re going. You simply die along the way.
My grandfather was a marathon runner. He didn’t start running until he was 60, but by the time he passed away at age 98, he had run over a hundred marathons, and at least one in every state in the USA. As he aged, he got slower and slower. His mind remained sharp until the end, but I was able to see, as if in time-lapse, how his body could do less and less. First he could no longer run. Then he could no longer walk without a cane. Then he could not walk at all. A Navy veteran, “give up” was never in his vocabulary. He kept on pushing himself, always seeking improvement, but his body died along the way.
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