The first new music from the Californian groove metallers since 2023’s conclusion of their Dealing with Demons collection, Devildriver’s 11th album more than lives up to their previous music. I’ve been a fan for a good while now, and am always excited to hear new music from Dez Fafara and co., so when this came across our emails I knew I’d be diving into a full review. From epic riffs to crushing breakdowns to some aggressive but melodic vocals, the band typically do it all to perfection. Strap in, ladies and gents, let’s do this!
Things start off expectedly heavy with ‘Dig Your Own Grave’. Straddling that line between thrash, death and metalcore that the band do so well, the drums and riffing is fast paced right from the jump. Dez’s vocals soon come over the top, fitting the vibe perfectly with his grit and semi-scream. The whole thing feels like the perfect blend of Lamb of God and Machine Head, and I love every second! And the chorus, while still heavy, is pretty damn catchy in a way that only Devildriver seem to be able to pull off. And my god, all the guitar solos and lead lines throughout… *chefs kiss*. The bridge builds perfectly into a brutal breakdown, one that fits the track perfectly and showcases the bands groovy nature alongside their faster side. The whole track sets the tone for the rest of the album excellently, and is a huge early highlight!
‘Dead in the Water’ picks up right where the previous track left off; an epic intro falling away into a massive, Blastbeat-filled riff. The pace keeps up through the verse and bridge, once again leading to a heavy but surprisingly bouncy chorus. We also get a blistering guitar solo or three in the middle, packed full of technicality and harmonies. Some may say that it goes on a bit too long but not this writer, I think it fits excellently within the song and is a real showcase of the bands abilities as a whole. It’s another awesome song and one I’d recommend to anyone even vaguely a fan of the band!
A more nu/industrial metal vibe runs through ‘Sanctified in Scars’. The riffing is very much like a Drowning Pool, Static X or even Tetrarch, and the bounce to its rhythm harkens back to the early 2000s in a big way. Having said that, it still feels so very Devildriver in the best way. And Davier Pérez is going just as hard as ever behind that kit, too. Arguably it gets heavier and more chaotic in choruses, the opposite of the previous two songs. Having said that, the backing vocals make it still an incredibly catchy one, and one of my favourite on the album. The bridge doesn’t have much to it but still feels like it fills the gap rather perfectly in a song like this. It’s a breakdown and then some awesome lead lines, and truly adds to the song in a great way. This is another excellent song, and one that easily makes our playlist!
The albums namesake is a bit slower a pace, the heaviness still there but it having more of an epic, Rotting Christ air to it at times . The pace picks back up to Machine Head-esque levels near the minute mark, but the intro was a nice change of pace, and does give the track an overall grandiose nature, especially as it comes back for the choruses. It’s a heavy track that feels like it combines together everything we’ve heard from this album up to this point. It’s fucking awesome! And that half time bit at the end was AMAZING. The band are so far four for four with fantastic songs!
‘In the Moonlight’ starts lower, the distorted vocals over a clean guitar sound being a fun new twist to their sound here. It expected soon explodes into a huge, fast riff, instantly giving off more melodeath vibes than ever before. The grooviness comes back for the pre, the track opening out from its ferocious instrumentation while maintaining its heaviness. However, there are plenty of great melodic moments throughout that stand out against the more all-out-assault style we’ve heard so far. It definitely has a bit more of a European flavour to it. It’s a really interesting, awesome track that I’ve found myself revisiting more on subsequent listens. It’s another huge highlight of the album, that’s for sure, and one where everyone gets their chance to shine.
The following few tracks, ‘Ride or Die’, ‘Headed for the Fall’ and ‘Shut the Silence On’, are more balls to the wall tracks. All are fantastic tracks in their own right, with ‘Headed for the Fall’ being another big album highlight for me. But they all have a similar energy and, on a longer album, it’s hard not to group a few up a little bit! Honestly, it gives off vague vibes of early Parkway as well as the melodeath influences too. Either way, all three songs sound awesome. They are fast and heavy but each chorus is still an earworm! Dez’s vocals are fantastic on each, showing he hasn’t lost a step in the 30 years or so he’s been putting out music, but the rest of the band work their asses off and kill it too. Again, Pérez is an absolute beast behind that kit, and has been through the whole album. If you like the thrashier side of them, these tracks are for you!
The same could be said of music of the rest of the album, honestly. It’s interesting because all the tracks are amazing and I couldn’t cut any of them. However, 13 tracks these days is long, and when a lot of it is similar it does make me wonder if it would have been better served as another two-part album. Still, I am probably in the minority thinking in that way; after all complaining about too much good music is rather insane! Maybe it’s just the fast pace of the world these days, but it makes me slightly less likely to revisit the album in full as much if it’s long and similar. But as I said, ‘You’re Just a Ghost’, ‘Oath of Iron’ and ‘All Bets are Off’ are all fantastic tracks in their own right, and fit in with the rest of the album perfectly.
The exception to this ‘Summoning Shadows’. nestled away in the back third of the album, it’s very much the ballad, and changes the pace exceptionally well for its three minute runtime. Focusing around an acoustic guitar and Dez’s distorted vocals, it’s surprisingly beautiful, especially with the uplifting lyrics. Everything around these elements only add to the epic soundscape too; the depth on display on the track is superb. And it means that when the distorted guitars and drums come in in the latter half, it feels earned and hugely impactful. I always love it when Devildriver slow things down a bit, and this is another great example of that. Another huge highlight track on an album rather full of them!
Overall: This is another awesome release from one of the most underrated bands in metal. It’s packed full of amazing songs, with some up there among the very best the band have produced. The band all get a chance to shine plenty throughout, with both the playing and writing showcased being off the charts! I have already outlined my very minor gripes with the release, but in the grand scheme of things it barely makes a debt in the greatness that is Strike and Kill. If you are at all into the band or their general genres, this is well worth checking out! No one does it quite like Devildriver, and it’s a release that I will certainly be listening to most of a fair bit moving forward!
The Score: 8.5/10