By now every average metalhead should know these guys. Devildriver have proven to be a more than worthy addition to the metal scene with their monstrous grooves, strictly brutal vocals and most importantly, some of the most intense live shows with a lot of audience participation. Now they unleash The Last Kind Words upon us, which is bound to be embraced again.

Why do I know this? Because I know DevilDriver simply isn’t able to write crappy songs, not even able to write weaker songs for that matter. All the elements that made the band so far are still present; the monstrous grooves, Dez’s haunted vocals, melodic second guitar parts and pounding drums make The Last Kind Words a decent follow-up to the first two albums.

 

There are some small differences here and there though. It seems like the band has put even more thought in their songs than before. Where in the past the band was happy with a handful of grooving headbang riffs, they now do a whole lot more technical stuff, especially with second guitar parts. Also I tend to hear a whole lot more influences from the melodic black/death metal scene, which gives the music more overall depth. A real special thing is the Hammond organ in the end of the last track, a completely different feel but a great ending to album. Not many complaints from my side about this album you can safely say I guess.

 

Well the artwork looks great again, the production is amazing (how else could it be with people like Jason Suecof and Andy Sneap handling production and mixing duties), so obviously with DevilDriver the least you can expect is the whole fucking package. I guess it takes the average fan about ten spins to memorize the lion’s share of the album by heart, and trust me; you will want to play it a lot more often than ten times.