Sometimes a record will have been reviewed before, but circumstances have changed. Such is the case with "Rebel Angels Rise" by the Belgian Heavy Metal band HUNTER. It was originally released in 2023 on CD and as a Digital Download. What has changed is that from 20 September 2025 the band will have a vinyl version available for the public as well. "Rebel Angels Rise" is actually their third release to date, with the 2017 EP "Death Shall Have Dominion" and the 2019 debut album "Hunter" preceding this one. And as I mentioned, the band plays Heavy Metal. Nothing more, nothing less. But as they class themselves as traditionalists, you could say that they have opted for the kind of Heavy Metal that you could say is timeless.

In just over 37 minutes HUNTER takes you back to the eighties and early nineties, a time when Heavy Metal was still king and not butted out by the Grunge rage. And they do that with a lot of pizzazz, with true fire coming from within. You can hear the determination in everything that you hear on "Rebel Angels Rise". The band have opted to not hold back, to let it rip and try and go for broke. What that does give you is the knowledge that you are not listening to just some wannabe Heavy Metal musicians, but to a quintet who eats, breathes and sleeps Heavy Metal and isn't afraid to show their determination in their music.

I have really enjoyed listening to HUNTER on "Rebel Angels Rise", as it invigorates my own enthusiasm for traditional Heavy Metal. And even though I am really liking what I hear, I also have to admit that what HUNTER does will not be anything that will entice new people into their realm. The songs on "Rebel Angels Rise" are just too plain for that to happen. On the other hand, every traditionalist in the Heavy Metal community could just feel that this is exactly what they need, and therefore hail "Rebel Angels Rise" as a bloody good record. That is their prerogative, and I applaud anyone who does. But as a reviewer I also have to look at what I feel are the shortcomings of a band, and originality and surprise are what HUNTER is lacking. It doesn't make "Rebel Angels Rise" into a bad album, just one that will appeal to those who like their Heavy Metal to be really traditional and straight forward.