The Dear Hunter - Act V: Hymns With The Devil In Confessional (September 9, 2016) Album • Page 9

really great podcast with a ton of new info including instrumental reimaginations of Acts IV and V.

 

those live videos sound great! i just now read about the issues hes having with his voice, he sounds as great as ever and i would have never guessed. i hope he's not hurting himself and gets some rest after the tour. i imagine that vocal nodes and stuff like that would be something that you can push through for a while... but i'd be very sad if he damaged his voice permanently :(

 

Finally getting around to listening to this. Only 4 tracks in and I think it's incredible, no exaggerating.

 

Yeah after IV, I was worried they were losing their luster (a bit), but holy hell this album is phenomenal.

 

Well this is something.

Welcome

 

That camp is certainly not aimed at me, or many people hah, but I hope there are people out there it speaks to

 

yea.. I mean IDK they have a lot of fans.. if I had more time and money I would consider it.. Also think they should perform every night of it, would add to the incentive.

 

It's all finally starting to click. It's only taken me a couple years and several attempts but I'm finally starting to really enjoy what this band is doing

 

I've been listening since Act 2 and have always loved it. Mostly due to loving everything Casey touches.

I feel like if I tried right now I'd be so overwhelmed. Props to you for diving in

 

This brings me joy. They're so great

 

I've got rock Genius pulled up, a thedearhunter subreddit introduction guide, a video showcasing all the reprises/motifs, and Wikipedia pulled up so I can dissect everything lol. It's gonna be a long night.

It's times like this my English major comes in handy

 

You sir are doing it right.

I think there is a way to like the band at face value but I began to love them when I started to pay attention to the story. Enjoy!

 

it's not allll that complicated really but sounds like you got a fun night planned up ahead, i did invest a decent amount of time researching and it was all very cool

 

:D

Well, I'm a very big Coheed & Cambria fan, and I feel much the same about them that many feel about this band. Likewise, as you said, that band can certainly be enjoyed at face value but the story adds a lot to these otherwise nonsensical lyrics and phrases. I've come to find the same is true for TDH as well.

 

I brought myself through all the acts like 5 times last fall... havnt been back to them much since seeing them but damn what a live band

 

While I don't disagree there are some things that get very confusing (the brother, the pimp/priest stuff, the oracles, certain events, etc) and it helps to have something that says "ok look here's what the fuck happened" haha

 

cant help but feel bad for Hunter, his life seems like a never-ending punchline of tragedy over a long period of time.

from a strictly "story" perspective the only real critique I can think of is theres a lot of coincidences and "oh he just so happened to be there?" or "wow what are the odds that person would be there at that time?" moments but thats really a minor nitpick in the grand scheme of Caseys songwriting since, well, he kinda has to have those moments to progress a story that is being told entirely through a suite of albums.

I really like the callbacks and reprises, I quite like our main character even if sometimes his decisions are....questionable but I guess that breeds development, I love the setting and time period it takes place in and I love that there are hints that theres something in this world thats just a bit off, a bit supernatural, just a little off that makes it even more charming and feel like an Epic.

As far as technical stuff goes Casey is a fantastic singer and songwriter, hes quite the talented lyricst and instrumentalist and his orchestration is top notch so props to that. Pretty much all of these songs are vaguely "rock" songs but they venture into A LOT of musical territory with ballads and heavy moments and swing/big band sounds and some jazz and all kinds of stuff. Theres a lot to really like here and I'm shocked its taken me so long.

I cant quite rank any of the Acts yet but as an aside I love the evolution of the artwork and the tree, just a neat touch.

 

sorry if my posts get annoying or long-winded I take pleasure in deconstructing and rambling about things lol

 

Also I guess its safe to assume the boy/Hunter is Italian/Latin/French yeah? Just given what we know, the phrases/language used, song titles, etc

 

Alright so this will be kind of a long post of just random thoughts and observations plus stuff I've learned while digging around fan sites, the subreddit, etc. I had a bad fit of BPD mania last night so I didnt sleep much but thats ok

So the world of the Acts takes place in an alternate history according to Casey, theres nothing really magical or out of the ordinary aside from that. The ghosts and oracles are all just figments of the Boys, whos name I learned actually is "Hunter", imagination.

the song "Go Get Your Gun" is, in the Acts universe, a traditional drinking/war song thats been around for many many years. Likewise, the story of the gambler/the devil in "The Most Cursed Of Hands" is a well known parable that is passed down throughout generations within the Acts universe. Its implied that the Priest is the one giving this as a sort of sermon.

Going off the previous point, theres a few references to Texas Hold'em which I thought was pretty cool

When theres a reprise or past reference, its generally meant to replicate the emotion that Hunter was feeling at that time and applying it to these new events (one example being the "Mustard Gas" reference in "A Night On The Town". In ANOTT Hunter is blackout drunk which reminds him of the time he passed out in MG)

Casey isnt necessarily opposed to Migrant being a part of the Acts universe but at the same time its not meant to really fit although some fans will claim that Migrant songs could fit well as a sort of prelude before Act IV

Act II takes place in the 1910s, Act III a couple years after that (its presumed that the reasons WWI started in our universe are pretty much the same as in the Acts) Act IV is in the 1920s and Act V is in the 1930s.

"King Of Swords" is essentially an 80s montage of Hunter going from zero to hero, Casey said to imagine him "trying on suits, getting a haircut, etc" since hes now becoming a bigshot

Mr Usher is essentially the Palpatine to The Priests Darth Vader, hes just using him to cause as much misery and chaos as possible (Casey says that Mr Usher isnt the devil or anything supernatural, just a very, very cruel man)

I'm sure this isnt a spoiler but just in case Hunter, Ms Leading, and TP/TP are all dead by the end of Act V. TP/TP and User kill Ms Leading in cold blood, a mob is then sent to Hunters home and TP/TP attempt to reason with Hunter but Hunter kills him. Hunter then burns down the church and kills himself before the mob can get to him
Hunter gets married and has a child at some point in Act IV/V

The whole Act story has this cyclical nature to it which makes the song Ouroboros even more prescient. Hunter has a son and sends him and his wife away to the river while he faces the mob and burns down the church, again repeating the imagery of Ms Terri and Hunter running at the beginning of Act I.

Hunter has a very serious opium addiction which also causes him to hallucinate

these albums have been very fun listening to and piecing everything together has been a true joy. consider me a fan.

 

Really strong analysis, yea it's a lot of fun, i have no idea what act V is going to be like. Also want to look more into migrant as somehow being connected to the story since I sort of viewed that album as more of a personal one for Casey.

 

Someone said you can hear the dear hunter influence on the new Manchester orchestra single and I don't think they are wrong, especially on the bridge of "the gold". Andy and Casey are very close and I'm pretty sure that Casey even popped in the studio with them while they were recording.

 

also random aside but Casey said Hunter is, in his mind, Italian/Latin but its implied that he lives in America since Prohibition is mentioned.

I think Casey has said that Act VI will be more cinematic than the others.

 

Act IV
Act II
Act III
Act V
Act I

Probably my ranking at this point. Migrant would be in the upper half and if we count TREOS then so would BTHATS. I guess now I can safely call Casey an all time favorite songwriter just given the sheer volume of stuff he's produced I enjoy now

 

This is my exact ranking haha. I need to revisit Migrant, I didn't enjoy it when it came out very much.