There is a Gloomy, eerie and ominous start to ‘Dealing With Demons’ before Dez kicks in with a raspy raucous scream and then it all kicks up a notch, I won’t dissect the album track by track as the majority of the elements on the tracks follow a similar path, but does a lack of diversity cause a need for panic or worry, nope, not when it is this accomplished and executed to this degree.
You would have to have lived under a stone for the last twenty or so years to not be accustomed to the works of Dez Fafara, although his name alone does tend to divide the crowd, into lovers, haters and sceptics. Regardless of all the politics though, DevilDriver have been laying waste to all that stands before them and they are well respectfully renowned to be one of the hardest working bands on the planet.
So, DevilDriver are back after four years, with a lesson in violence and brutality. ‘Dealing With Demons’ in its completion is going to be a two pronged attack on the senses, each to include topics which Dez says he will never revisit again, hence laying the tracks over two albums which are to be released in quick succession. Here we have the first offering, and the second we are led to believe, will be following shortly after.
‘Dealing With Demons’ reignites the groove-metal backbone that has long become devildrivers signature makeup, but also factors in some serious doses of brutality and viciousness which all pulls together to form a beautiful venomous package. There is more a clean edge too, more than we would necessarily associate with Dez et al. There are clean vocals from the main man himself, clean string work from the frets of Spreitzer and Tiemann and lethal pounding from Ibarra on the bass and D’amond on the kit.
This release sees the troop move up a level and its obvious from the outset that they weren’t content with just treading water and trying to sell records on the back of their name alone, they wanted to up the ante and bring a new clean sound to the party, reinvent themselves if you will, and they have done just that. The album brings fresh avenues and recipes to the front.
The album has it all, it’s explosive, exhilarating and extreme, and it’s fresh, evolved and mature in its deliverance. It opens up to the future direction for devildriver and the reset button they have clearly hit with a ten ton hammer.
I would urge everyone to jump on board with this one, it has enough to keep the loyal fans happy and more than enough to interest anybody who hasn’t grown into the Devildriver family yet, If this is the future and not just a one off triumph, then I can truly say the future is so bright its verging on blinding..
(8/10 Phil Pountney)
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