Review by Saxy S for Huntsmen - The Dry Land (2024)

From Chicago, Huntsmen's brand of sludgy post-metal can be interesting at times, but I feel like this band lets the more progressive compositional techniques get in the way of decent song structure more than they would like. While the band has some really good ideas on The Dry Land, it has a tendency to sound like these motifs haven't been fully realized before the tracks move into a completely new pattern, while leaving the first motif to rot. It leaves me with a bad first impression as "This, Our Gospel" is ruined by a floundering theme. The album does objectively get better as it progresses, but they still do peak through the poor songwriting throughout the record.

The biggest thing I think is the drastic dynamic sways on The Dry Land. Songs like "Lean Times" and "In Time, All Things" have solid crescendo's and work wonders for individual song pacing, but as a full album, the intensity of the percussion and chordal guitars, mixed with doom-y post-metal interludes creates a bit of a whiplash effect. Add to that a very hit-or-miss production where the bass is alarmingly absent for many of the records most important moments (i.e. the intro of "In Time, All Things") and we find ourselves feeling quite underwhelmed.

What we are left with is a band and album that shows plenty of potential; earworm/progressive songwriting, dual vocals, and phenomenal sense of dynamic control, while still being held back by some tired progressive trends, spotty production and meandering. 

Best Songs: Cruelly Dawns, In Time, All Things, Rain