Review: JD Garrahy
It’s been three years since the last DevilDriver album. Not a long wait by any means, but Strike and Kill hits you straight in the face and continues to pummel you into the ground to an unrecognisable mess from start to finish. This is metal at its absolute peak, and I won’t be arguing on the matter.
When this album hit my inbox, I was told that I wasn’t ready for what my eardrums were about to be subjected to. And you know what, that person was damn right. As soon as that opening riff of Dig Your Own Grave hits, you have no time to prepare before our man Dez Fafara hits you with “Get to digging!!!!!!!!!”. This isn’t “putting your best foot forward”, oh no, this is carving your mark straight into the genre with a bowie knife, spitting in its face and following it up with a boot straight to the jaw to finish the job.
You think I’m just going to stop there? Oh, hell no! This is just the opening track. There are still 12 other tasty morsels to sink your teeth into.
Dead In the Water keeps the ball rolling on that same high intensity, groove-laden sound that Dez Fafara and the boys have become so well known for. Every riff, every beat, every bassline is present and accounted for. Having this piping through your ears during your favourite activity just adds a soundtrack to your life that you didn’t know it needed. And as soon as it’s over, you have a millisecond to regroup before Sanctified in Scars tears you limb from limb. Blisteringly brutal from the first second right through to timestamp 4:03.
The title track. There is something of heightened expectation when it comes to the song that the whole album is centered around. And in this case, there is nothing to be disappointed about. With Dez Fafara leading off the track with spoken word before blasting his signature gravelly vocals to pierce your very soul, the pure hatred in these vocals feels like they’re directly aimed in your direction to give you the strength to obliterate any and all obstacles that stop you from reaching whatever your desired goal is.
I’m always amazed by the middle of an album. The thought process to have the three songs specifically placed here must be a monumental task to execute perfectly, but make no mistake, this is where my heart lies with this album. The trio of In the Moonlight, Ride or Die and Headed for the Fall just hit me perfectly in my little black metal heart. These three tracks show a band that has not only overcome every challenge in their lives but refined them into an unstoppable force that needs to be respected before it rips your face clean off. The musical prowess from each and every member is put on display here and there are no signs of them slowing down. Their earlier albums were but a mere warm up for the chaos that ensues on Strike and Kill.
The other half of the center of the album is usually where a band tends to wind down their activity, adding in the usual ballad or slower track for good measure. Please, this is motherfuckin’ DevilDriver, there aint no slowing down and if you want a ballad, fuck off to your mainstream bullshit, this is hard, heavy and brutal and you know you don’t want it any other way. Shut The Silence On, Never Coming Home and Summoning Shadows are the beginning of the tail end of this magnificent beast, and I’m going to pay particular attention to the latter. Summoning Shadows is a gorgeous track and I can’t believe how much this track grabbed me and held on for dear life from the first listen. It may be slower to begin with, but it’s incredible in not only its insane riff work, but Davier Perez has never sounded better to me on any other album and the lyrical content and delivery that Dez Fafara displays here just takes my breath away. Thank you for this song lads, it will live in my soul forever more.
You’re Just a Ghost and Oath of Iron begins the trifecta of album closers. While Ghost feels like the track to complement its predecessor, Summoning Shadows, Iron is 100% my new obsession to see live, as it will stir that raw animalistic instinct to rip each other piece by piece in the confines of the pit. It will be take no prisoners, a Spartan kick to the chest of your opponent and keep moving. Survival of the fittest is about to get real in ANY pit this track drops in. Which leads me to the name of our album closer All Bets Are Off. THIS is what DevilDriver is all about. Balls to the wall metal, unrelenting and unapologetic. Closing the album with the same amount of intensity as it began is something that not a lot of bands do these days, but this has been a ride of pure unadulterated savagery from the first note to the final drumbeat. DevilDriver certainly has decided to let the dog off the leash with this album and show its time to stop fucking around and show you what theyre really all about.
So, how do I sum up such a massive album? I hate the term “return to form”. It feels cliché, forced, and like the trusty tool in your work shed you reach for that can do just about anything. This is NOT a return to form, this is an entirely fresh and refined DevilDriver that deserves every bit of your attention, respect and admiration. From production value through to ear splitting riffage, complex drumbeats and groove-laden basslines, what Dez Fafara and the boys have added here is a savage modern sound to an already deeply woven tapestry of metal ancestry. Take the advice I was given, you are not ready but prepare yourself as best you can.
Pre-Order Your Copy of Strike and Kill HERE
