DevilDriver have spent nearly a quarter of a century turning rage into something brutally precise. Strike And Kill finds Dez Fafara and the band sounding neither tired nor nostalgic; instead, they attack these 13 songs with the hunger of a group still determined to make every riff leave a mark.
“Dig Your Own Grave” begins with vicious guitars, visceral anger and speed, yet somehow manages to be incredibly catchy. That balance has always been one of DevilDriver’s greatest strengths: music designed to flatten a festival field that still understands the value of a hook.
There’s something nightmarish about “Dead In The Water”, an almost horror-film quality beneath the groove. It’s as ready for the moshpit as anything Machine Head have made, while Fafara screaming “stay the course” sounds as though he might be reminding himself as much as anybody else.
The drums on “Sanctified In Scars” are sensational. It’s as tough as this stuff gets, but crucially understands the importance of light and shade. There’s no point smashing somebody over the head continuously when briefly letting them recover makes the next blow hurt more.
“Strike And Kill” exists in anger and malice before exploding. “You learn the hard way” goes the hook. Don’t doubt it. The breakdown is vicious enough to sound like demolition work, and the title track provides a pretty accurate mission statement for everything surrounding it.
“In The Moonlight” offers something approaching a change of pace. Until it doesn’t. Why bother showing restraint when you can simply go for the throat again?
“No guts, no glory,” spits “Ride Or Die”, and it possesses plenty of both, along with guitars that slash their way through the song. Make no mistake, this album isn’t merely heavy. It feels dangerous.
There’s no let-up when “Headed For The Fall” arrives. “It’s as good as it gets,” they sing, which only makes the nihilism seem even starker. “Shut The Silence On” follows with anger turning into something closer to despair. The aggression throughout Strike And Kill never feels manufactured; it sounds like catharsis performed at frightening volume.
The opening guitar on “Never Coming Home” seems to travel straight through the headphones and out the other side of your skull. Its darker, more technical tone recalls bands such as Periphery, and while DevilDriver’s foundations remain rooted in groove and thrash, they take some pleasingly weird turns during its mid-song passage.
Then comes “Summoning Shadows”, acoustic-led at first and possessing the brooding quality Stone Sour occasionally summon. Except there’s no warning before DevilDriver crush everything in sight again. It’s one of the record’s finest moments precisely because you don’t see the violence coming.
“Justice is a reckoning,” warns “You’re Just A Ghost”. Given the ominous harmonies and the mood surrounding them, you suspect somebody is about to receive theirs.
By the time “Oath Of Iron” arrives, it could be argued that Strike And Kill is offering more of the same. That neglects two important points. First, the quality remains remarkably high right to the finish. Second, when the “same” is this brutally effective, why would you want them to change?
“All Bets Are Off” almost spits its verses in a rap-like style, but the music blasts like a shotgun and crushes like concrete. It gives the album one last violent surge rather than allowing it to limp quietly towards the exit.
There are no experiments designed to attract a different audience here, no attempts to soften DevilDriver’s edges and certainly no concern for anybody hoping they might have mellowed. Instead, Strike And Kill takes everything the band has perfected over the years and sharpens it.
“Let’s leave no stone unturned,” they scream towards the end. Whatever catharsis DevilDriver were looking for, you trust they found it.
Rating: 8.5/10
