Best Songs from the Dear Hunter's Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional

Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional is the seventh studio album by American rock band The Dear Hunter. It was released on September 9, 2016 via Cave and Canary Goods and Equal Vision Records. The album is the fifth installment in a six-part series. It follows the conclusion of Act IV: Rebirth in Reprise, in which the story's main character is confronted by his nemesis and forced into blackmail.
The Top Ten
1 The March

An incredibly epic song that has the Pimp and the Priest at his most impressive, showing just how amazingly manipulative he can be, conveying it through this dynamic, reprise filled masterpiece. I love how triumphant this song sounds despite the incredibly bleak subject matter. It truly sounds like something sung to rally a crowd against a common enemy, the difference here being that this seemingly optimistic, happy song is from the perspective of the villain, giving this song an incredibly bittersweet feeling to it.

2 Gloria

Definitely a dynamic song with a great deal of emotional twists and turns, with an overall highly optimistic feel to it, a feeling of great triumph, with an amazing chorus that progresses throughout the song in quite a nice fashion. The guitar solo is pretty decent, and the more traditional sound of the song, albeit one involving more orchestration than usual, it quite a nice change of pace.

3 The Moon / Awake

The intro is incredible in how it has some degree of energy, but to a much lesser extent to the previous acts, solidifying the much more focused, reflective album that this is. I really love the amazing chorus here, as it's simply dripping with emotion, with an absolutely beautiful melody and simply amazing vocals to back this up.

4 The Flame (Is Gone)

The song has a darker atmosphere to it, and after the optimism of the previous songs, feels even more crushing to hear the despair come back so quickly, even stronger than before. This definitely feels like the beginning of the end, with the more dense composition, and the distortion on the vocals in parts, which feels a lot like someone being controlled or having their judgement severely clouded.

5 Mr. Usher (On His Way to Town)

It feels as if there's always one song in particular on a Dear Hunter album that is quite a curveball, this song being the one for this album. The vocals here are so smooth, and the sound of the song in general is just really nice, setting up the much more refined nature of Mr Usher in comparison to the other antagonists, along with the incredibly dangerous, brutal side to him. While I don't find this to be an absolute highlight of the album, it certainly is great.

6 The Revival

And now the best character appears again for another absolutely killer song. While it doesn't have the deep emotional impact of some other songs on the other songs, I just can't get over how absolutely amazingly charismatic the Pimp and the Priest is. The song has one of the greatest choruses the band has done, and the song has a constant driving energy that makes it so incredibly enjoyable to listen to. The way the song slows down for a reflective moment with the main character really adds a lot to the song, as it fully displays the power that the P&P has, as well as continuing with the highly reflective nature of the album.

7 A Beginning

While each previous song would transition through many different emotions and states of mind, this one stays very much on track throughout its entirety, reflecting a deep feeling of hopelessness. The song barely increases in power at all, making the extra instruments appearing near the end to become incredibly impactful, as well as the one closing track by the Dear Hunter that truly feels as if it's a proper end to the album, almost certainly signifying the end of the main character's life. The reprise of the Lake South at the end was simply crushing the first time I heard it, as the way the story perfectly blended in with the music caused me to become quite attached to the characters.

8 The Fire (Remains)

At this point, the main character seems done with the constant heartbreak and manipulation he suffers, as the song doesn't seem hopeful, but it feels incredibly resolute. Everything feels somewhat uneasy, as there is the underlying feeling that despite the main character seeming confident, the lack of optimism and hope of the situation distinctly paints the picture that something very wrong is going on. The song itself is decent in general, with its main draw definitely being this conflicting feeling it gives.

9 The Most Cursed of Hands / Who Am I

The song has a very similar sound to that of the outro to the Lake and the River, with a slow, ominous riff. As this song goes on, it gets surprisingly intense, constantly speeding up and slowing down, with a precise, hard hitting drum beat that adds a lot of punch to each note. The way it transitions into Who Am I may be slightly underwhelming, but at the same time, this section of the song is also excellent.

10 Blood

After the rollercoaster of emotions that this album was, this song begins to wind everything down with the feeling of complete desperation, self reflection, and isolation. The chorus emphasises this the most, with Casey shouting the lyrics, showing this clear realisation within the main character. I love this change of tone from the negative emotions mentioned before to one of overcoming oneself and fighting back, which leads to the Pimp and the Priest dying, his death signified by out of tune trumpets. The way the song crescendos before dying down, but not quite all the way, allowing the next crescendo to go slightly more powerful is a cool effect that fits the story perfectly.

The Contenders
11 Cascade

The softer sound the song has is simply amazing when paired up with Casey's incredible voice. The heights that are reached in this snog are simply astounding, with the desperate lyrics backing up this feeling of utter despair. I find the intro and outro to have an extremely whimsical quality that I enjoy quite a lot as well.

12 The Haves Have Naught

Another surprising song on the album, this one being a duet between Mr Usher and the main character, acting as some sort of debate between them, while having this incredibly beautiful melody. I've always attributed the act series to that of some sort of stage play, and this song is the biggest example, feeling right out of some sort of musical. A unique song that sounds simply amazing.

13 Light

The lyrics of this song show a great deal of vulnerability, and the simple acoustic instrumentals simply sound gorgeous. The chorus is another aspect of the song that is quite noteworthy, as it sounds amazingly emotional.

14 Melpomene

Quite a beautiful song with a much more pop focused sound to it, with wonderful harmonisations and a very intimate feeling to it. While the song reaches no kinds of heights like almost the entirety of the album, this is still integral to the album, and an undeniably lovely song.

15 Regress

Unlike in the previous acts, this one has no kind of hopeful tone to it or anything other than a deep feeling of despair and hopelessness, of utter crushing defeat, setting the much darker tone that the album will contain in general. It sounds lovely, with great orchestrations and great vocals.

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