Review Summary: It’s nothing you haven’t heard before, but when it’s this good who cares?
DevilDriver and I got off on the wrong foot. I first encountered them while I was starting to find more, shall we say, “intellectual” music, and I didn’t think of them as anything more than a standard metal band with nothing particularly different or exciting to offer. And you know what? I stand by that comment to this day; they don’t offer anything that the average metal fan hasn’t already heard a thousand times over. But what they do do well is play some good ol’ fashioned heavy metal with a level of passion and determination that is rarely seen in the modern metal world.
Pray For Villains sees the band evolving their sound even further, combining elements of melo-death, groove and thrash metal to create a musical juggernaut that hardly lets up over it’s 45 minutes-or-so timespan. This is most evident in the instrumentation; guitarists Mike Spreitzer and Jeff Kendrick provide a consistent barrage of chugging riffs and catchy melodies that doesn’t let up ‘til the end. Just check out the
Pantera-esque chug of
Pure Sincerity, the melodic sweeps of
Resurrection Blvd., or the haunting intro to
I’ve Been Sober. The rhythm section is also impressive throughout, the drums especially. Since their second release,
The Fury of Our Maker’s Hand, John Boecklin has proven that he has some talent behind the kit, and it shows here. His hyperactive double-bass and excellent fills provide a sturdy backbone for the rest of the band to bounce off of. He’s not afraid to diversify either, implementing the occasional blast-beat or slower-paced fill accordingly. The bass, as typical with a lot of modern metal bands is often drowned out by the guitars, this is a minor grimace however as it is rarely missed.
However, the head of the band has always been it’s frontman, Dez Fafara, who’s vocals have improved drastically over the years. He showcases somewhat of a variety on the album, implementing not only his usual menacing screams and growls but also some clean singing here and there. It provides a nice change but his real talent lies in his harsh vocals which remain powerful and impressive even after multiple listens. The lyrics, on the other hand aren’t the strongest out there. There are plenty of cheesy lines scattered throughout, such as:
Dying is easy/Its living that’s hard, from
Pure Sincerity, or:
33rd degree on the corner of Quit Street and Temptation Avenue, from
Forgiveness is a Six Gun. Not only that but some of the choruses are uninspired and boring, often relying on repeated screams of the song title:
Fate stepped in to lend a hand again
Fate stepped in to lend a hand
Fate stepped in to lend a hand again
Fate stepped in to lend a hand
Or:
It's a bitter pill, such a bitter pill to swallow
It's a bitter pill, such a bitter pill to swallow
Another gripe I have with the album is it’s lack of variation. The songs all have the same verse-chorus-verse structure which, like the aforementioned choruses, can get repetitive and tedious.
Despite my complaints though I still believe
Pray For Villains to be not only one of the year’s strongest metal releases so far, but also
DevilDriver’s best album to date. This is modern metal at it’s very finest, and any fan of the genre owes it to themselves to pick up as soon as possible.
