DEVILDRIVER - STRIKE AND KILL

The best way to describe DevilDriver in this album is radiating badassery; riffs are technical and heavy, vocals are tight and gritty, while percussion is brutal with weighted bass. It’s a hefty listen, with all the chaos of an active moshpit. Strike and Kill is a machine constantly moving, full of varied waves and sounds; when it seems like the sound has nailed a direct feeling, it takes a quick shift to a different plane, everchanging.

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Frontman Dez Fafara is a ferocious powerhouse with rhythmic vocals and raw emotion. Dez’s voice carries with viciousness and spit on title track “Strike and Kill,” while tracks like “Ride or Die”, “Dead in the Water” and “Shut the Silence On” have a repetition that hammers the song home. Dez’s voice is full of grit, harrowing and vocal in feeling, the fury can be felt in “All Bets Are Off”. Lyrics are just as brutal.

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With Alex Lee and Gabe Mangold on guitar there is always adrenaline, with fierce tremolos and harmonics that bend and flow within the melodeath. Tracks like “Dig Your Own Grave” and “Sanctified in Scars” are constantly full of thrills. The flawlessly melodic solos in “In the Moonlight”, “Headed for the Fall” and “Oath of Iron” shows the talent in full force. The alternating riffs and different sound of “Never Coming Home” and “You’re Just a Ghost” keeps the journey interesting and mindbending, integrating classic groove elements.

Jon Miller’s bass adds weight to the sound, layering onto the tracks that gives the tracks that extra killer punch to send it home, but present most when the sound is more emotive and gentle, too. “Summoning Shadows” is an at-times softer track that shows the diversity of the group as a whole while highlighting the bass.

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Drums are an eruption of sound, creating this tectonic energy when paired with the guitars. Davier Perez is a swift and technical drummer, creating carnage among the blackened riffing with no forgiveness. “In the Moonlight” gives the impression of a pack of wolves running with the constant beating of the drums. Songs such as “Oath of Iron” have the blast beats in full force that keeps adrenalin pumping.

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There’s a lot of technicality in their tracks, “Headed for the Fall” is a particular stand out track here. Everything feels seamless for the band, creating this synergy within all the crunch and brutal sound that ensures every note has purpose and deliberation. “All Bets Are Off” closes the album well, signing off on that signature DevilDriver sound that combines all elements and keeps the energy high.

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Strike and Kill hides nothing in the title, full of aggression and thunderous fury with wholehearted purpose. It is pure, scalding fire from start to finish. Technical, beautiful and cutthroat, the album shows DevilDriver at their finest – when they show no mercy.

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SCORE 9.5/10

Reviewed by GhostinthearmouR