Hunted

You'd expect nothing less than an articulate brand of metal when you're driven by a passion for heavy metal and your inspirations are Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Helloween and Dream Theater.

Enter Hunted.

With roots in 2001 and Cwmbach, a little Welsh town on the outskirts of Cardiff, the band grew into a “proper full lineup” in 2006: bassist Jon Letson, guitarist Dave Edwards and drummer Adam Gregory. They picked up vocalist Chris G. and guitarist Steven Barberini along the way and developed a style that was similar to the groups they admired, yet unique.

Their live shows began to garner some enthusiastic attention in the UK in 2007, but misfortune burdened the band the next year with the departure of Gregory and Edwards.

Letson, Chris G. and Barberini soon brought on board drummer Matt "Animal" Thomas and guitarist Dan Angelow. With the lineup intact, they recorded and released "Alone," a demo EP recorded at Sonic One Studios by Tim Hamil.

With good reviews in various publications, Hunted has a promising future.

Last week, I spoke with the band through e-mail about its passions, origin and where they're headed.

Metal Mayhem: What was growing up in Cardiff like? Do your surroundings affect your lyrical or musical outlook like, say, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath growing up in the throes of industrial Birmingham?
Jon: Well, the interesting thing is that we come from a pretty wide range of places and backgrounds … I think Matt is the only one who actually grew up in Cardiff!
Chris: I was born and brought up in Greece. The metal scene back there was, still is and will always be one of the most powerful metal scenes in Europe. That’s something that grows up in you and you’re stuck with it forever. For some it might be a curse, for the rest of us it’s a blessing!
Steve: For myself, I grew up in Colombia and everything that was going on around me during my upbringing is certainly reflected in the majority of our lyrical content. The feelings and thoughts one develops being brought up in a third world country where poverty and death are all too common are definitely a dominant topic in our music.
Dan: I grew up in Swansea, and nothing really went on musically at all. My parents are big metal/rock fans, and so I've been surrounded by metal music all my life. The first gig I went to see was Kiss, Rage Against the Machine, and Skunk Anansie, and I was 6!
Matt: I believe you learn a lot from your surroundings, but how you live your life and the people who influence and support you are just as important.
Jon: I definitely think that the diversity of our experiences growing up gives the band a very broad outlook lyrically as well as (hopefully!) musically.

MM: Can you describe the origin of the band and your passion for metal, including your influences?
Jon: The band that first got me into music in general, then rock and, finally, metal was Queen strangely enough — from there a few friends and I started getting seriously into Iron Maiden, Megadeth and Metallica. In fact, Hunted basically started life as a covers band trying to do the bands that we loved some kind of justice! The line up has changed drastically over the years (I’m actually the only original member left!) as the band has evolved into the strong unit that it is now, and my influences have progressed to include incredible bands like Nevermore and Dream Theater, but it was those three bands that really shaped my passion for the genre and my formative years as a musician.
Steve: I joined the band back in 2003, and before that the band was mainly playing classic heavy metal covers such as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Deep Purple and Megadeth. The band throughout its several distinct line-ups has always been extremely passionate about conveying real metal, metal that has meaning and conveys true emotions. The band has many influences, certainly in common with greats like Iron Maiden — Helloween — Metallica — Megadeth — Judas Priest — Dream Theater; and other bands/artists, out of many, that inspire our music are Nevermore, Therion, Manowar, Symphony X, Opeth, Queensryche, Crimson Glory, Ronnie James Dio, Dissection, Death, etc. Within the realm of musical creation we try to mix all these influences, and I guess that is the sound of Hunted.