Following frontman Dez Fafara’s recent takeover of SXM’s Liquid Metal, DEVILDRIVER’s campaign of carnage continues with the release of the bloodsoaked title track off their explosive new record “Strike and Kill”, out this Friday 10th July via Napalm Records.
Easily one of the most vicious tracks on the album, the band gleefully hurls listeners through a pulverising blend of maximalist virtuosity and bone crushing slam riffage. Melodeath, slam, groove, and thrash, everything that the band has built their lasting legacy on emerges in vibrant shades of red: a soundtrack to the slaughter.
About the track, frontman Dez Fafara states:
“‘Strike and Kill’ is a song about individuals that have to learn lessons the hard way. Sometimes in life, you need to learn things the hard way in order to make your next decision or next move properly. Beware the moves you make at midnight behind emotion and without any thought of consequence. For you will learn lessons, and they will be taught to you the hard way.”
DEVILDRIVER has been on a menacing mission since first announcing “Strike and Kill”, with both lead singles dominating the Metal Contraband charts, spinning frequently on SXM’s Liquid Metal (hitting Number 2 on the Devils Dosen), effectively quenching the bloodthirst of their longstanding devotees, who have proclaimed it a glorious return to form for the California groove metal legends. Honouring the album’s title, DEVILDRIVER remains tactically vicious, and uncompromisingly brutal.
Pre-order Strike And Kill HERE.
Watch the official video for “Strike And Kill“ HERE.
Stream “Strike And Kill” HERE.
Following DEVILDRIVER‘s career-defining double album Dealing With Demons Vols. 1 & 2 – with Vol. 1 sitting at #1 at U.S. metal radio for a triumphant 15 weeks, and Vol. 2 celebrated by internationally revered outlets like Metal Injection, Kerrang!, and Blabbermouth, who declared “you can’t stop the unstoppable” – Strike And Kill finds the band at their most focused and ferocious, zeroing in with predatory precision and delivering that trademark DEVILDRIVER blend of melodeath elegance, blackened atmosphere, tectonic grooves, and Fafara’s iconic visceral delivery.
Wasting no time, the album bursts open with the incendiary “Dig Your Own Grave“; a punishing volley of assault-rifle kicks and crunchy riffs that seize the listener by the collar and refuse to let go, before sieging into “Dead In The Water“, which showcases the vibrant melo-death tapestries of guitar duo Alex Lee and Gabe Mangold. “Sanctified In Scars” deploys industrial beats and ethereal textures, wrapping Fafara’s venomous voice in blackened tremolo excellence. The album’s title track “Strike And Kill” is a reconciliation of hardships and lessons learned, built on the backs of blistering technical riffage and dizzying drumwork from Davier Perez. Tracks like “In The Moonlight” and “Never Coming Home” envelop listeners in serenely blissful guitarmonies, elevating the brutality with elegance and emotion.
“Ride Or Die” hits like a freight train and doesn’t let up. Tracks like “Headed For The Fall” and “You’re Just A Ghost” exemplify the band’s technical edge, embracing mind-bendingly off-kilter patterns. “Summoning Shadows” offers the album’s longest moment of stillness, with textured acoustic guitars coiling ever tighter before the band detonates. “Shut The Silence On” and “Oath Of Iron” rip forward with thrash energy and blast beats, before “All Bets Are Off” brings everything to a suitably cataclysmic conclusion.
Strike And Kill Tracklisting:
- Dig Your Own Grave
- Dead In The Water
- Sanctified In Scars
- Strike And Kill
- In The Moonlight
- Ride Or Die
- Headed For The Fall
- Shut The Silence On
- Never Coming Home
- Summoning Shadows
- You’re Just A Ghost
- Oath Of Iron
- All Bets Are Off
Strike And Kill will be available in the following formats:
- 1-CD Digipak
- 1-LP Gatefold Vinyl SOLID BLUE
- 1-LP Gatefold Vinyl TRANSLUCENT VERDE – Napalm Records Mailorder Exclusive
- 1-LP Gatefold Vinyl SPLATTERED (incl. LP-Sized Booklet 24 pages, Certificate, Covercard) – Napalm Records Mailorder Exclusive
- 1-LP Gatefold Vinyl WHITE LABEL (incl. LP-Sized Booklet 24 pages, Certificate) – Napalm Records Mailorder Exclusive
- 1-LP Gatefold Vinyl SOLID ORANGE – Indie Merch Exclusive
- Digital Album
DEVILDRIVER will be touring across the western United States with Upon A Burning Body and Ov Sulfur this summer. Dates announced include:
DEVILDRIVER on tour:
DEVILDRIVER are:
Dez Fafara – Vocals
Davier Ortega Perez – Drums
Jon Miller – Bass
Alex Lee – Guitar
Gabe Mangold – Guitar
DevilDriver online:
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source metalplanetmusic.com ’
