After more than two decades of relentless touring, ten full-length albums, and a reputation forged in sheer intensity, groove metal heavyweights DEVILDRIVER show no signs of slowing down. With their eleventh studio album Strike and Kill set for release on July 10, 2026 via Napalm Records, the band tap back into the raw, carnivorous energy that first defined them—sharpened by a formidable lineup led by Dez Fafara alongside Alex Lee, Gabe Mangold, Davier Ortega Perez, and the returning founding bassist Jon Miller.
As if that wasn’t enough, DEVILDRIVER are also gearing up to return to Australia this July alongside CRADLE OF FILTH for a tour that promises pure devastation.
The Everblack Podcast caught up with Dez Fafara to talk about Strike and Kill, rediscovering his creative fire, and bringing the chaos back down under.
Watch/listen to the interview here:
Following DEVILDRIVER’s career defining double album Dealing With Demons Vols. 1 & 2—with Vol. 1 sitting at #1 at metal radio for a triumphant 15 weeks, and Vol. 2 celebrated by internationally revered media like Metal Injection, Kerrang!, and Blabbermouth, who lauded “you can’t stop the unstoppable”—the band sets out on a rabid hunt with Strike and Kill, holding the blade to your throat, and serving up that trademark DEVILDRIVER blend of melodeath elegance, blackened atmosphere, tectonic grooves, and Fafara’s iconic visceral delivery.
Wasting no time, the album bursts open with the incendiary “Dig Your Own Grave”, a flurry of assault rifle kicks and crunchy riffs encircle the listener casting them into the waiting abyss before transitioning into “Dead in the Water”, showcasing the vibrant melodeath tapestries of master guitar duo Alex Lee and Gabe Mangold. “Sanctified In Scars” implements industrial pulsating beats and ethereal sonic textures, sanctifying Fafara’s venomous voice with blackened tremolo excellence. The album’s title track “Strike and Kill” is a reconciliation of hardships and lessons learned, built upon the backs of blisteringly technical riffage and dizzyingly swift drumming by Davier Perez.
Tracks like “In the Moonlight” and “Never Coming Home” wrap listeners in serenely blissful guitarmonies, elevating the brutality with elegance and emotion. “Ride or Die” unleashes pure metal inertia, pulling listeners in with unrelenting force. Exemplifying their technical edge with tracks like “Headed for the Fall” and “You’re just a Ghost”, the band embraces mindbendingly off-kilter patterns that spin listeners’ heads. “Summoning Shadows” offers the albums longest respite from carnage, with textured acoustic guitars building tension before the band comes crashing back in with triumphant power. “Shut the Silence On” and “Oath of Iron” get super thrashy with their ballsy riffage and blast beats, before “All Bets are Off” brings things to a cataclysmic conclusion.
Pre-Order Your Copy of Strike and Kill HERE
