DevilDriver
- The Fury Of Our Maker's Hand - Roadrunner Records 2005
12
Songs
Running Time: 51:22
You could've
put all the good parts of DevilDriver's
debut on the head of a pin, and still had room for a mosh
pit. That was no secret to anyone I came into contact with.
As it happens, though, early this year I had the chance to
interview Dez. I thought to myself, "Great! Just what
my site needs! An industry-bloated ex-member of a band I
wouldn't walk across the street to put out if they were on
fire.".
In our conversation, though, Dez turned out to be not only
approachable, but honest, sincere, and forthcoming. He
took my opinion of the debut, and explained away a good
portion of my reservations without shifting blame to others.
I'm not sure, after getting to know the man, that there
was anything to "blame" him for in the first
place. At any rate, the main topic of our discussion was
the new DevilDriver, which he was in the
ending stages of mixing with Colin Richardson. The energy
and excitement was evident even through the phone, and
I found myself looking forward to this release with baited
breath. And thus... When the
harmonics beginning 'End Of The Line' were broadsided by
early Dark Tranquillity arpeggios, which then crashed
into a double-bass-driven assault (yes, assault), with Dez's
multi-dimensional vocals spitting out the first verse like
the words were poison, I knew this wasn't anywhere near the
DevilDriver I'd expected. "Sure,", I thought to
myself. "anyone can write one good song. Can they keep
it up?". Well, turns out they can. Spot-on dual leads
carry much of 'Driving Down The Darkness' into older Soilwork
territory (you know, back when they were good?), and again,
Dez's delivery twists itself one moment around an Anselmo-like
grunt, only to follow with a dry, parched wail. The Fury...
wouldn't have been an album on Roadrunner without one "Fuck
you for fucking me over."song, and 'Grinfucked' seems
to be the one. It does flirt with the more accessible sounds
of the first album, but works for what it is, nonetheless.
DevilDriver 2005 are a band that knows the value of dynamics
in a song, as can be heard in one of my favourites, 'Hold
Back The Day'. Black metal riffs via latter-day Satyricon coil around a rhythm that just "feels" dirty, neither
one ever gaining complete control of the song, which works
to its advantage. Everything seems stepped up for this second
album, be it the heaviness, the melody, or the blind rage.
Think of the transition Pantera experienced between Cowboys
From Hell and Vulgar Display Of Power, and you have some
idea of a starting point for the consideration of The
Fury...
. For this album, Fafara has pulled DevilDriver as far away
from the corpse of his former projects (including the first
album) as he could, yet still have it not seem like a major
stylistic shift, or a grab for quick cash. The rabid execution
of 'Ripped Apart' shows more vigor in the opening thirty
seconds than Six Feet Under has in their whole sorry career,
and the political undertones of 'Pale Horse Apocalypse' are
undeniable, given the current state of our country's rusting
infrastructure. Lyrically, 'Just Run' loses alot of momentum
with its cliched "The grass is always greener on the
other side / No one here gets out alive.", but does
reveal a man in search of something to hold onto with "I've
got faith on my side.". Musically, 'Just Run' is somewhat
saved by the frantic blitz of the intro and chorus, but it's
not enough to save the song. There's a slight Bay-area feel
to the main riff of 'Impending Disaster', but the "I
really, really love black metal" rasp of Dez forces
one to imagine Machine Head with Satyr on guest vocals. It
doesn't work for me, plain and simple. DevilDriver seems
to realize this, and yanks itself up by the bootstraps for
the near-blastbeat fills and speed-staccato riffwork of 'Bear
Witness Unto'. Something in the groove of 'Before The Hangman's
Noose' just begs to be the closer in a live setting, taking
the best elements from the past 40+ minutes, and cramming
them into one frenzied ball of a metallic deathwish, snidely
laughing its way to the gallows. The title track ends things
here, and is the only song in which we hear Dez's previously
relied-heavily-upon clean vocals (and then very briefly).
Myself, I'd like to hear a more somber, truly acoustic song
on the next one, just to totally fuck with our heads. As
it is, 'The Fury Of Our Maker's Hand' rocks in the same way
as does Frozen-era Sentenced, and provides a diverse ending
to an album that's been pretty much locked and loaded from
the first song.
I can hear everyone who once respected my opinion on all
things metallic calling me out for giving this anything like
a positive (much less a glowing) review. You know what? Listen
to the damn thing, and quit all your scene posturing. Forget
the past and move the fuck on. That's what this album's all
about for DevilDriver, and I, for one, think they succeeded.
www.devildriver.com |
