The Long Hunt - Natural Order (Album Review)

Release Date: July 18th 2025. Record Label: Hellbender Vinyl. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Natural Order - Tracklisting

1.It Hunts The Shadows 

2.The Cosmic Egg 

3.Assiduous Gnaw

4.Spine of Dusk 

5.Tooth and Claw

6.The Liminal Flow

7.A Narrow Path

8.Pillar of Dawn

Members

Trevor Richards: Guitar

Allison Kacmar Richards: Bass

Mark Lyons: Drums

Review

Natural Order is the latest and fourth record from Instrumental Psych/Doom/Stoner Rockers The Long Hunt where the band explore the NUMBER FOUR in multiple and highly original ways on this album. The band explains: 

“In many philosophical and spiritual traditions, the number 4 is associated with the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water, which are seen as foundational to the world and physical nature. It's a number often linked to order, structure, and natural cycles, such as the four seasons and the four phases of the moon.”

So this record is quite conceptual in places which allows The Long Hunt to add a Drone Rock element to their music whilst keeping their trademark use of Psych, Doom and Stoner Rock instrumental sounds. There’s  added levels of Alt Metal and Shoegaze momentum to their music which gives Natural Order quite a modern and forward thinking approach. The sound does become quite Progressive with the band switching to a trippy Stop/Start way of delivering their music which comes across surprisingly well on the opening batch of tracks of It Hurts The Shadows, The Cosmic Egg and Assiduous Gnaw where the Post-Rock melodies are quite soothing, haunting and wonderfully aggressive at the same time.

Taking cues from the likes of Karma To Burn, Colour Haze, Yawning Man and Monomyth but adding their own soulful identity into their musical surroundings. The record becomes dominated slightly by a classic Nineties atmosphere which gives The Long Hunt an unpredictable quality and fearless drive into creating areas of soulful Instrumental Doomed Out Stoner Rock.

An epic slice of Post-Doom aggression appears out of nowhere which allows the stunning rhythm section of Allison Kacmar Richards on Bass and Mark Lyon on Drums to generate an eerie Desert Rock attitude which moulds the musical and creative landscape for Trevor Richards epic guitar work to play some intense grooves along the way. When everything is put together, The Long Hunt are quite unbeatable with their majestic Psychedelic and Spaced Out passages. Throw in some Pink Floyd and ELDER classic sonic exploration on the later stages of the record especially on tracks such as: Spine Of Dusk, The Liminal Flow and A Narrow Path propelling the listener into full on Psychedelic Stoner Rock bliss.

The Long Hunt excels at playing fast-paced sounds and slowly pitched harmonies which constructs quite a gloomy atmosphere with great moments of Classic Hard Rock which sees the band develop a unique style of Instrumental Rock music. Natural Order is quite understated and I wouldn’t blame The Long Hunt to go way OVER THE TOP with epic progressive jams but they keep the whole flow quite soulful, organic and with real warmth emitting from the speakers.

Natural Order is expertly recorded and produced with The Long Hunt demonstrating once again why they’re one of the most essential Instrumental Stoner Rock bands we currently have within the underground scene. If you want an album with haunting poetic Post-Rock moments and full on aggressive Stoner Rock/Metal extended grooves then this is the place to be.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

Official | LinkTree | BandCamp

Thanks to Desert Bloom PR for the promo.

Exclusive Song Premiere Of Instrumental Doom Rockers THE LONG HUNT New Song ASSIDUOUS GNAW

The Long Hunt is a three-piece instrumental doom, drone, heavy-psych band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The group is known for blending sparse minimalism and textured drones with hard-hitting guitar riffs and memorable melodies. The music is both adaptable and dynamic, able to shift in volume and mood at a moment’s notice. With live shows often accompanied with samples, lights, and projected images, the band strives to create an immersive experience for the audience.

The band are releasing their new album Natural Order on Friday 18th July 2025.

We're excited to premiere the new song Assiduous Gnaw from the upcoming new album which you can listen to below.

 

Assiduous Gnaw: The name is a reference to inescapable unrelenting forces. Time, wind and rain will eventually grind even the mightiest of mountains into dust. A meditation on impermanence and a surrendering to the ultimate will of the universe. The song hits especially hard live, with the warbling vibrato and delay-drenched guitar giving way to the muscular, octave fuzz chorus. I feel it takes people by surprise every time. To me the song is a nice marriage of post-metal, light prog, and stoner-doom. I'm especially proud of the guitar solo, which utilizes some interesting scales and moderately intricate hammer-on/pull-off techniques." - Trevor Richards / The Long Hunt

Personnel:

Trevor Richards: Guitar
Allison Kacmar Richards: Bass
Mark Lyons: Drums

Links

Official | LinkTree | BandCamp

Thanks to Desert Bloom PR for all of the details.

The Long Hunt - Threshold Wanderer (Album Review)

 

Release Date: April 1st 2022. Record Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Threshold Wanderer - Tracklisting

1.Prelude 01:46 

2.The Tower 05:24 

3.The Golden Bough 06:15 

4.Night Falls on Black Wings 12:33 

5.Crossing the River 04:10 

6.Procession of Dust 12:11 

Members

Trevor Richards: Guitar

Allison Kacmar Richards: Bass

Mark Lyons: Drums

Review

Threshold Wanderer is the new album from Pittsburgh Doom And Gloom Instrumentalists The Long Hunt. The band have released two other releases before this one and this is my first experience with the band so I can’t comment how this one ranks against their previous efforts. With that being said, The Long Hunt have released an outstanding album with Threshold Wanderer. The album conjures six tracks that transcends the Instrumental Doom/Stoner Metal structure with echoes of Americana Post-Doom and Hazy Psychedelic Stoner Metal allowing the band playing well executed styles of slow paced and fast paced grooves. 

There is an epic music video that accompanies this album as well which you want a more visual and “out there” experience. As this album is quite a dark and complex album hitting upon themes such as nature, life, death and rebirth.

The Long Hunt open the album up with Prelude, a very cool offering acoustic guitars and cold-hearted psychedelic atmospherics. 

Second track The Tower offers a very strange sound with echoes of Post-Rock, Post-Doom, Prog Rock and even Classic Rock before the band reach their creative destination around the half-way stage of the song. This allows The Long Hunt to “open” up their gloomy Americana sound by playing heavier and meatier slices of groove based Doom/Stoner Metal. The song becomes a more interesting experience towards the end of the song with some YOB-esque flourishes appearing. One of the albums more thrilling and delicate compositions that are held here.

Third track The Golden Bough brings a fresh “Classic Rock” and “Blues Rock” perspective that I didn’t expect at all. Quite funky and wonderfully surreal at the same time. This song has such an “easy-going” quality that the song fits superbly with both areas of Classic Hard Rock and Modern Day Doom/Stoner Metal sound the band use for this song. 

Fourth song Night Falls On Black Wings is the standout and heaviest track here with The Long Hunt simply going for the Doom/Stoner Metal jugular. The song has the right balance of slow-paced grooves and the faster aggressive Stoned Out riffs. Flirting with elements of Ambient Post-Rock sounds and Post-Stoner flair bring a fine level of distorted melodies along the way. The song lasts almost thirteen minutes and The Long Hunt play some of the finest parts of the album on both of the albums lengthiest tracks.

The final two songs Crossing The River and Procession Of Dust allows The Long Hunt to end the album on a high with more epic sounds of Doom/Stoner Metal spliced with Classic Rock, Psych Rock, Post-Rock and Prog Rock leaving you wanting more. Procession Of Dust is the other longer track contained on this album and is another mesmerising track that ultimately leaves you wanting to hear more from this album.

As I stated earlier in the review, Threshold Wanderer is an outstanding album that oozes style, charm and originality with a fine amount of heavy hitting grooves that build up for a soulful and almost out-of-body experience. 

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Mettle Media PR for the promo.

Links

Linktree | BandCamp

    

THE LONG HUNT Announces New 'Threshold Wanderer' Album And Short Film

Threshold Wanderer' is the newest album by the Pittsburgh-based instrumental trio The Long Hunt, following 2017’s 'Wilderness Tales' EP and 2018’s 'All Paths Lead to Here' full-length.
In contrast to the dry minimalism and sparse textures that defined the first two records, the songs on 'Threshold Wanderer' are often lush, dense, and verdant. Musical styles range from post-rock to post-metal, heavy psychedelic, doom, drone, and even a few hints of prog and classic rock. 'Threshold Wanderer' is all about musical exploration and traveling between worlds.

The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered in the first quarter of 2020, with the intent to release it later that year. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the global pandemic, those plans were unfortunately shelved. Not to be deterred by events beyond their control, the band soldiered on behind the scenes.

Digitally Pre-save 'Threshold Wanderer' now!

 

After a three-month crash course in 3D modeling, using open-source animation software Blender, guitarist Trevor Richards embarked on the monumental task of writing and animating an album-length music video. Eight months and over 1000 hours of work later, the accompanying music video/short film for 'Threshold Wanderer' was born.

Expanding on the band’s frequent use of archetypal themes such as nature, life, death, and rebirth, the music video for 'Threshold Wanderer' is an epic story-driven visual experience set to the music of The Long Hunt.

Bookending two years of anticipation, the band will release both the album and accompanying music video/short film for 'Threshold Wanderer' on Friday, April 1, 2022.

Pre-order coming soon at: thelonghunt.bandcamp.com

Here's a tease from Threshold Wanderer below.

The Long Hunt is a three-piece instrumental doom, drone, psych band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Adaptable and dynamic, the music can shift in both volume and mood at a moment’s notice.

With live shows often accompanied by samples, lights, and projected images, The Long Hunt strives to create an immersive experience for the audience. The band has provided support for National/regional touring acts such as Karma to Burn, The Atomic Bitchwax, The Skull, Yatra, Rebreather, Insect Ark, Monte Luna, Mirror Queen, Horehound, Worshipper, Samothrace, He Whose Ox Is Gored, and Child Bite, as well as appearances at multiple regional festivals.

Upcoming Live Shows:

June 3-4 @ Descendants of Crom IV, Pittsburgh, PA

THE LONG HUNT Online:

https://listentothelonghunt.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thelonghuntband/
https://www.instagram.com/thelonghunt/
https://thelonghunt.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1GzuUQUobcKgH1IzjDqE74
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCL0cOWirUYVB15vEj3bwvw