Hear DEMON HUNTER channel DEPECHE MODE on 'Exile' B-side "The Brink" | Revolver

Hear DEMON HUNTER channel DEPECHE MODE on 'Exile' B-side "The Brink"

Metalcore vets expand horizons with "an 80s-esque electronic tune"

Revolver has teamed with Demon Hunter for an exclusive "dystopian fog" colored vinyl variant of their new album Exile — limited to 500 copies. Order yours now!

Demon Hunter's 2022 album, Exile, was not only the metalcore veterans' first-ever concept record, but also packed with diverse guests, from Judas Priest shredder Richie Faulkner to Sepultura co-founder Max Cavalera. Amazingly, the album could have been even more ambitious, as demonstrated by the B-side "The Brink."

Originally offered up exclusively to the band's fan club at blessedresistance.com last year, and now getting a wide release, the song showcases a whole other side to the group, far from their usual metallic affair. Instead, "The Brink" is an introspective, New Wave-style ballad that sounds a whole lot more like a down-tempo Depeche Mode deep cut than a Demon Hunter rager. Stream it above via YouTube.

"The Exile recording session left us with a number of extra songs, which is not very common for us," Demon Hunter bandleader Ryan Clark previously commented of "The Brink." "Usually we narrow the funnel before we commit to recording — in order to keep things focused and as speedy as possible.

"For this record, there were a number of songs that we really wanted to include, but it really came down to what fit — not just time-wise, but also thematically.

"'The Brink' is definitely a different one for us, but I absolutely love how it came out. We discussed doing this one as a piano ballad or stripped-down acoustic number, but I demoed it as an 80s-esque electronic tune, and we were really loving that vibe too much to mess with it.

"There is a feeling of anxiety in the main key pattern, which is deliberate. We wanted it to feel like that moment in a movie when things start to intensify and you're not sure how it's going to shake out. I think the score to Interstellar was a big inspiration for this song in general. If you're familiar with that score, you may hear it."

In April, Demon Hunter will kick off the latest leg of their "Twenty Years in Exile" tour, which celebrates two decades since the release of their 2002 self-titled debut with a setlist spanning all 11 of their studio albums. Get more details here.