Press

Album Reviews

Weekly Wrap-Up (Bored in Pittsburgh, 4.15.22)

• “As if their passages of snaking, odyssean metal (a la Pelican, Isis, Russian Circles) weren’t enough, The Long Hunt, with the release of their new album, Threshold Wanderer, spoil us with an accompanying short film full of psychedelically evocative digital imagery.”

There’s Something New Under The Sun, and The Long Hunt Are Doing It With Their New Album ‘Threshold Wanderer’ (Alchemical Records, Linc Bradham, 4.3.22)

• “…when you see the animation style The Long Hunt’s guitarist Trevor Richards used for ‘Threshold Wanderer’, it will become apparent that the style of immersion The Long Hunt is striving for is, in fact, completely new.”
• “…there are many archetypal themes which the album deals with. These include nature, life, death, and rebirth. The band itself does an incredible job at marrying these metaphysical themes with a soundtrack that encourages the listener to analyze while simultaneously being absorbed into the soundscape.”

Review: The Long Hunt – ‘Threshold Wanderer’ (DenpaFuzz, 4.1.22)

• “Gravitating in a space in which post-rock, psychedelia, post-metal, psycho-doom and progressive elements coexist in this suggestive musical journey between worlds. Creating an immersive experience to the listener inside somber atmospheres presided over by a sense of mystery. With a fluid narrative the themes oscillate between drones and slow but heavy according to those that manage to make the listener participate in his disturbing, but fascinating story.”
• “Nature, life, death and rebirth are the source of inspiration for songs that, despite their density, flow with ease through those psychedelic spaces that the trio knows how to model with such skill.”
• “With its twelve minutes, ‘Night Falls on Black Wings’ is conceived under the support of monolithic stoner riffs of supreme density. Slowly the theme flirts with a doom environment, plunging us into a dark sound abyss.”

‘Threshold Wanderer’ Review (State of Guitars, 4.1.22)

• “…The Long Hunt takes us to places of scorched earth, years of plenty, the past in the future, all at the same time.”
• “They present a record plus a fully animated film accompanying the songs. It takes the viewer to inconceivable universes…”

The Long Hunt Unveil Evocative Instrumental Gem, ‘Threshold Wanderer’ (Doomed & Stoned, Billy Goate, 3.30.22)

• “…you’re about to encounter a Pennsylvania act whose name is worthy of standing alongside the greats…”
• “The Long Hunt’s conjurings are entirely convincing – so organically instrumental that not once did I miss a traditional singer narrating the action. In fact, vocals might just spoil the experience altogether, as something very important would be lacking from the equation: your imagination.”
• “Enter the grim, fascinating world of The Long Hunt as Threshold Wanderer spirits you away to a fantastic underworld of damning doom, wistful psychedelia, visionary post-metal, and joyful prog.”

Pick of The Week: The Long Hunt Pack Power, Psyche Majesty into Immersive ‘Threshold Wanderer’ (Meat Mead Metal, Brian Krasman, 3.25.22)

• “Threshold Wanderer really gets at the heart of this band … and the force they harness. Over six immersive, earth-shakingly heavy, psyche-washed tracks, the band flexes their muscles, working into your bones and giving you a closer taste to what taking them on live is really like.”
• “…Trevor Richards used the downtime of the pandemic to work on his 3D modeling skills to craft an album-long video that gives you a visual glimpse into this record that revels in the themes of exploration and traveling between worlds.”
• …a gigantic step forward for The Long Hunt, a band that already was operating on a high and fully immersive level.”
• “This record is more indicative of their mighty live shows where you can feel like you’re both at their mercy and enthusiastically along for a journey that challenges and sparks you.”

Exclusive Video Premiere: The Long Hunt – “The Golden Bough” (Ghost Cult Magazine, 3.16.22)

• “…incredible animated short film…”

The Long Hunt Premiere “The Tower” Video; Threshold Wanderer Out April 1 (The Obelisk, JJ Koczan, 2.15.22).

• “‘The Tower’ is the point at which the record begins to unfold, with the subdued ‘Prelude’ setting a mood for two minutes before. It introduces the natural distortion and subtle noise vibe behind the riffs, like if earlier Mastodon slowed down to take a breath, and the brightness of the crash cutting through the density of the tones.”
• “Drawing on visual elements both organic and otherworldly, the accompanying videos are a fitting match for songs like ‘The Golden Bough,’ with it’s subtle Earth influence met by sunshine, a three-eyed deer, or the subsequent 12-minute ‘Night Falls on Black Wings’ with its journey into aural and visual space.”

Mindrocket Sessions: The Long Hunt “Smoke Offering” (Mindrocket Sessions, Rick Polo, 12.27.19)

• “Pittsburgh experimental/instrumental act The Long Hunt are no strangers to creating lush, brooding atmospheres with powerful minimalism. Their individual tracks feel more like movements, brush strokes on a greater canvas: that’s not to say that they don’t stand strong as individual pieces either. This is evident on “Smoke Offering,” a standout track from their 2018 record, All Paths Lead to Here.“
• “Across [“Smoke Offering’s] runtime, a hypnotic groove provides ethereal soundscapes which set the foundation for a dark psychedelic guitar riff, not far removed from the sounds of a David Lynch film, but also not far removed enough from an emotional connection as great as any traditional “song” would have to offer.”

Descendants of Crom Returns with an Extra Day, Whole Slew of Metal, Doom, Sludge Bands (Meat Mead Metal, Brian Krasman, 9.26.18)

• “Their new record All Paths Lead to Here is highly recommended and as beautiful as it is heavy.”

Pittsburgh’s The Long Hunt Pull Back, Bring Minimalist Doom with Parched All Paths Lead to Here (Meat Mead Metal, Brian Krasman, 6.5.18)

• “With this band, minimalism is the name of the game, and they do a fine job on these six songs carving paths down dusty roads, letting the sun burn your skin, and leading you into a transformative musical experience that puts some of the responsibility on the listener to commit to the journey.”
• “‘Closing the Circle’ begins with drums bustling, the bass riveting, and us heading back into the desert with dry throats. Guitars head through and pull us into a driving rain before speed takes over and races to a psyched-out end.”
• “…these songs promise to expand the room in a live setting and give you a new understanding of their power.”
• “All Paths to Here is a fine piece of work that unravels more with each listen, so by all means, go back and indulge.”

New Release from The Long Hunt: Minimalist Heavy Psych (Pittsburgh City Paper, Meg Fair, 5.30.18)

• “The Long Hunt makes wandering music, so it’s only fitting that its latest release is titled All Paths Lead to Here. The heavy psych, minimalist post-rock moves through valleys of sludgy riffs, ascends into peaks of slithering bass licks and rolls across ambient fields of rock.”
• “There are only three members (drums, guitar, bass), but it sounds like many more. The band is entirely instrumental, and it doesn’t need lyrics to weave a tale. All it has to say is delivered through the feeling of each epic track.”

The Long Hunt Channel Nature for its Moody, Minimalist Debut, Wilderness Tales: Think of a Sound Somewhere between Slint and Sleep (Pittsburgh City Paper, Alex Gordon, 2.15.17)

• “Nature figures heavily in Wilderness Tales, the debut album from post-rock trio The Long Hunt. The songs are instrumental – there are no lyrics about wind whistling through leaves – but nature references are abundant. There’s a deer head on the cover (not a real deer, it’s papier mâché), the song titles are outdoor-centric, and the inside cover art shows the band’s instruments lying in the grass like sleepy poets.”
• “[The Long Hunt’s] style of heavy, repetitive, minimally stylized music does have an organic, animalistic vibe to it. This isn’t the music of lily pads and fawn sipping from streams. Wilderness Tales channels the punitive, indifferent randomness of floods and wildfires.”
• “The trio … succeeds with its sound because every minimalist instinct is balanced by jolts of grandiosity and abrupt change. The sound is unpredictable. Think something between Sleep and Slint: unsettling, heavy and mesmerizing.”

MP3 Monday: The Long Hunt (Pittsburgh City Paper, Alex Gordon, 2.13.17)

• “Wilderness Tales is built on sparse guitar lines on the surface, but anyone who’s spent any time with Earth or Sleep or OM will recognize the heavier – if less distorted – nuances in each composition.”

Band & Live Performance

Best of 2018: Non-Worst in Metal – Descendants of Crom (Meat Mead Metal, Brian Krasman, 12.11.18)

• “The Long Hunt dominated.”

Best of 2018: Non-Metal Records (Meat Mead Metal, Brian Krasman, 12.10.18)

• “…another great example of [the riches of bands we have here in Pittsburgh] are doom instrumental pounders The Long Hunt.”
• “There isn’t a desert anywhere near here, but you wouldn’t know it when this band is melting your face off (they’re even better live, by the way) with these Earth-y gems.”
• “Excellent band and record.”

Mindrocket Sessions: The Long Hunt “The Winnowing Hand” (Mindrocket Sessions, Jimmy Martin, 6.1.18)

• “This is one of the most charismatic songs and performances to be captured at Mindrocket Studio.”

Critic’s Pick: The Long Hunt at Brillobox (Pittsburgh City Paper, Alex Gordon, 12.13.17)

• “Tonight’s a good night for heavy, dark guitar music at Brillobox. The Long Hunt delivers minimalist, gloomy instrumentals …  It’s gonna be a good one.”

Other Press Links

Long Hunt Releases Video to Accompany ‘Wanderer’ (Tribune Chronicle/Youngstown Vindicator, Andy Gray, 3.31.22)

The Long Hunt Full Interview (The Raw Alternative, Rick Polo, 10.7.21)

Local Acts Prepare New Music for 2020 (Tribune Chronicle/Youngstown Vindicator, Gary S. Angelo, 1.2.20)

412nes: The Long Hunt (412nes, Trish Smith, 6.9.19)

Final Weekend of TributeFest brings David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Jefferson Airplane to Club Cafe (Pittsburgh City Paper, Jordan Snowden, 10.16.18)

Pabstolutely Turns it Up to 11 (Tribune Chronicle, Gary S. Angelo, 8.19.18)

Making Meaning: The Long Hunt on “Cantiga 166: Tower of Set” (Of Music and Mind, 6.8.18)

Start the Beat 173: The Long Hunt (Start the Beat, Brian Howe, 5.31.18)

Start the Beat 124: The Long Hunt (Start the Beat, Brian Howe, 3.14.17)