ACT I: THE LAKE SOUTH, THE RIVER NORTH

This is an interesting indie prog album that like other similar bands like The Tea Party mix different sounds from different bands to come up with something that is pleasant but still obvious where the influences lie. THE DEAR HUNTER seems like it has serious influence from Muse, The Mars Volta and Pocupine Tree to me. This musical entity began as a side project of Casey Crescenzo who wanted a place to put all the musical ideas that didn't fit into his band The Receiving End Of Sirens. After he left the band it turned into a full time project. Casey plays all the instruments except he recruited Nick Crescenzo on drums and a few others for some other musical touches.

ACT I: THE LAKE SOUTH OF THE RIVER NORTH is the debut album and incorporates many different sounds and musical ideas centered around the concept of a story set at the dawn of the 20th century revolving around the birth, life and abrupt death of a boy known only as 'The Dear Hunter.' The idea was that the story was supposed to be a six-part album series of which three have been released so far. Not sure if the other three will see the light of day or not but this is a decent beginning.

This album contains everything from a cappella to full on rocking out and strange piano and symphonic segments. It all flows quite well from beginning to edge and although the influences are well out in the open it nevertheless doesn't diminish from the overall sound since they are all woven together quite seamlessly. The emphasis on this album is really on the strong melodies that are dark and haunting. Great debut that makes me want to check out the following releases.