Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Devildriver - S/T - 2004 - Reviewed by Nailer

Track Listing1. Nothing’s Wrong? 2. I Could Care Less 3. Die (And Die Now) 4. I Dreamed I Died 5. Cry For Me Sky 6. The Mountain 7. Knee Deep 8. What Does It Take (To Be A Man) 9. Swinging The Dead 10. Revelation Machine 11. Meet The Wretched 12. Devil’s Son

I was never impressed by the music of Coal Chamber. Nothing personal to frontman Dez Fafara and the other members who were just doing their thing, but the Nu Metal stylings of his prior band, to me were best played in a torture chamber much less my stereo.

The debut from DevilDriver is a musical styling of a dark new light that crushes his former group into oblivion.

In the openers, Dez and his psuedo-death metal growls spit pure, rapid fire venom in the speed bursts of "Nothing Wrong", the familiar single "I Could Care Less" and "Die (And Die Now)". They have an overall commercial polish to their antagonism, but it's still the kind of angry pummeling I can get behind. Touches of Coal Chamber, but not enough to run me off, can be heard in "I Dreamed That I Died" with its tough, hip-hop delivery and the final track "Devil's Son". "Swinging the Dead" is an ultra cool romp for the danse macabre in all of us and the other tracks stretch out the band's groove heavy riffs adding some extra heft to the shorter numbers.

Dez has caught some flak for changing his musical style away from Nu to more of a deep, chugging thrash sound that on their debut has no aspirations of grandeur beyond the dark of the infernal pit. Bye-bye Coal Chamber. DevilDriver rocks.


--Nailer 02.23.04