Spell Eater is Huntress' debut record, but the band have been touring, performing live and building their reputation since the band's inception in 2009. Huntress formed when traditional heavy metal band Professor, based in Los Angeles, California, met a singer who when then going by the moniker Tuesdae. She had performed acoustic covers sets with Dave Navarro, and her own covers band, Chelsea Girls, featured former members of Nashville Pussy and Hole. Professor became interested in starting a female-fronted project that showcased Tuesdae's gravelly voice and considerable range. Once former Skeletonwitch bassist Eric Harris joined the project, and Tuesdae changed her stage name to Jill Janus, Huntress was officially born. Stylistically, Huntress are more power metal than classic heavy metal, all sparkle and bombast, with plenty of flourish and epic riffing. They are a bit rougher though than bands like, say, Dragonforce, that focus on playing dizzying technical material at ridiculous speeds through the thematic lens of classic sword-and-sorcery texts. Huntress are more dirty and raw, recalling the aesthetic of melodic German thrash. They don't go the symphonic route at all, rejecting the path that a lot of modern power-thrash and melodeath has taken. Instead, they keep their riffs honest and their song structures relatively straightforward, letting the lead guitar and Janus' vocal performance to lead the way and provide all the necessary flourish.