Kill or be killed!

DevilDriver have built their reputation around making groove metal feel physical. Since forming in Santa Barbara, California, in 2002 around vocalist Dez Fafara, the band have developed a sound that pulls together groove metal, extreme metal, thrash, death-metal aggression, crushing breakdowns, rapid drumming, and Fafara's unmistakable gravelly delivery. Their catalog has been around for decades at this point, but I'll be completely honest: Strike and Kill is my first time actually sitting down and listening to a DevilDriver album from beginning to end. That means I don't have the same long-term relationship with their previous records that longtime fans will have, so I'm hearing this almost entirely as an introduction to what DevilDriver are all about. And as first impressions go, this is a band that sounds hungry, pissed off, confident, and extremely comfortable making music that feels built to hit you directly in the chest.

The opening of “Dig Your Own Grave” wastes absolutely no time establishing that identity. Mechanical-sounding drums and tightly synchronized guitar chugs immediately create a sense of forward momentum, while Fafara's deep and harsh vocals sit perfectly over the top. The fast guitar work and catchy chorus keep the song from becoming a simple barrage of riffs, and there is something almost animalistic about the overall performance. It has that feeling of a pissed-off dog or hyena waiting for the right moment to fucking pounce. The guitars are tight without sounding sterile, the drums have enough speed to keep everything moving, and the chorus gives the song a melodic center that makes the aggression easier to latch onto.

That balance between speed and groove becomes one of the main things I noticed throughout Strike and Kill. “Dead in the Water” starts with a slower and more dramatic atmosphere before the band suddenly erupts into blaring drums and heavier guitar work. That transition works because the slower sections give the low end more room to become noticeable. When the bass starts rumbling underneath the guitars, the entire song feels larger. DevilDriver aren't afraid to slow down, and those slower moments often give the music more physical impact than the faster sections because you've actually had time to feel the weight building underneath you.

“Strike and Kill” is where the album really clicked for me. The popping snare in the introduction immediately grabs attention before the guitars come crashing in with huge chugs, thick bass, and aggressive drums. The breakdowns are enormous, but what really makes the song work is the combination of rhythm and texture. The guitars aren't simply playing the same note over and over; there are ringing guitar tones, tighter rhythmic patterns, and little shifts in the arrangement that keep the track moving. The kick drums also deserve a lot of credit because they give the slower sections an extra layer of momentum. After hearing the title track, I finally understood why DevilDriver have been able to maintain such a strong identity for so long. They know exactly how to make a groove sound violent.

The drumming might actually be my favorite part of the record. There is plenty of straightforward groove-metal playing, but the drummer has a great ability to switch between rapid-fire passages, heavy kick patterns, deeper fills, and slower sections without losing the momentum of the songs. “Ride or Die” is an especially good example because the drumming feels enormous without becoming overly complicated. There are rapid sections, dense chugs, and even a short guitar solo, but the whole arrangement remains locked together. The drummer isn't simply trying to play as much as possible. The playing is focused on making the guitars feel even heavier.

“Headed for the Fall” adds some welcome variety through bouncy riffs and subtle electronic textures. Those little production choices help prevent the album from becoming one giant block of guitar and drums, and they also demonstrate that DevilDriver aren't completely afraid to add other colors to their sound. The groove remains the foundation, but there are enough small details around it to make the track feel different from the more straightforward songs. That kind of variation is useful on an album this long because thirteen tracks of the exact same approach could easily become exhausting.

One of the things I appreciate most as a first-time DevilDriver listener is how well the band understand their own strengths. They don't seem particularly interested in making every song technically complicated. The riffs are designed to hit, the drums are designed to drive the momentum, the bass reinforces the low end, and Fafara's vocals sit somewhere between a roar and a bark, giving everything that gravelly aggression that immediately identifies the band. There is a simplicity to the formula, but the performances are tight enough that it works.

Fafara's vocal performance is particularly convincing because he doesn't need to do much to establish his personality. The deep, harsh delivery fits the instrumental attack perfectly, and there is enough grit in his voice to prevent the cleaner production from making the songs feel overly polished. The vocals have that lived-in quality where you immediately believe the person delivering them has some serious anger behind what they're saying. When the band slows down, his voice becomes even more imposing because there is more space around it.

Not everything on the album lands quite as strongly. “Sanctified in Scars,” “Shut the Silence On,” and “Never Coming Home” all contain solid riffs and strong performances, but this is where I started noticing some repetition. Since this is my first full DevilDriver experience, I can't say whether that repetition is typical of their catalog, but within Strike and Kill the basic formula does occasionally become obvious. The band know how to write a groove, but there are moments where the groove sounds like something you've already heard a few tracks earlier.

That's where the thirteen-track runtime starts working against them. There's enough variation to prevent the album from completely collapsing under its own weight, but the familiar structures become more apparent as you move deeper into the record. When the guitars, drums, and vocals are all firing at maximum intensity, DevilDriver sound fucking good. When a song settles into a familiar pattern without introducing much else, the impact becomes less immediate.

The quieter moments are therefore much more valuable than they initially seem. “In the Moonlight” and “Summoning Shadows” create some of the best breathing room on the album by introducing acoustic guitars, softer textures, and a more restrained atmosphere. I actually wish DevilDriver had explored this side of themselves further. These sections demonstrate that the band can create tension without relying entirely on crushing riffs, and that contrast makes the heavier material hit harder when it returns. “Summoning Shadows” in particular benefits from starting in a much more subdued space before eventually giving way to a heavier attack.

That kind of contrast is something I'd like to hear more of from the band. When DevilDriver slow down, the music can become enormous. When they speed up, the music becomes aggressive. But when they combine the two, they create some of their most effective moments because the listener gets both the physical impact and the tension that comes from waiting for the next hit.

The guitar work throughout Strike and Kill is strong without constantly trying to dominate the record. The riffs are tight, chunky, and often extremely rhythmic, while the occasional solo or lead adds some variety. “Dig Your Own Grave” brings the faster attack, “Dead in the Water” leans into the dramatic side, and the title track focuses on massive groove. There are moments where the guitars feel almost robotic because of how precisely they're locked together, but that mechanical quality actually suits the band.

The bass is another important part of the album, especially during the slower sections. When the low end is given space, it creates that enormous rumbling foundation that makes the guitars feel heavier. Unfortunately, there are also moments where the bass disappears too far underneath the guitars. That's one of the few things I would have liked to hear more consistently because the moments where the bass becomes prominent are some of the record's most satisfying sections.

The production overall is strong. The drums have punch, the guitars retain their heaviness, and the vocals have enough presence to stay recognizable throughout the dense arrangements. The album doesn't sound like a raw garage recording, but it also doesn't feel so polished that all of the aggression disappears. That balance is important for DevilDriver because their songs depend heavily on physicality.

Where the album starts becoming less convincing is when the songwriting settles too comfortably into familiar patterns. “You're Just a Ghost,” “Oath of Iron,” and “All Bets Are Off” still have energy and strong performances, but by that stage the record has already revealed most of its tricks. The riffs are still heavy, Fafara still sounds vicious, and the drums still hit hard, but the element of surprise becomes less frequent.

That isn't the same thing as the band becoming lazy.

They never sound lazy.

They sound comfortable.

And sometimes comfortable is exactly what you want from a band like DevilDriver. If your goal is to create an album full of groove-metal songs that sound powerful live, then consistency isn't necessarily a bad thing. The problem only appears when you start comparing the songs that simply deliver the formula with the moments that actually push beyond it.

For me, the most interesting moments are the ones where the band add something extra to that formula. “Headed for the Fall” has its electronic touches. “In the Moonlight” creates space through its softer arrangement. “Summoning Shadows” uses contrast to build tension. “Ride or Die” gets an enormous amount of mileage out of its drumming. And “Strike and Kill” brings together the groove, bass, drums, guitars, and vocals in a way that feels like the clearest representation of what the album wants to be.

As someone who came into Strike and Kill without a deep history with DevilDriver, I actually think that's one of the more useful things about the album. It gives me a clear understanding of what the band are about. They're aggressive, groove-focused, rhythmically tight, and completely committed to making their guitars and drums feel physical. Dez Fafara remains a huge part of that identity, but the rhythm section is what really makes the music hit.

And when that bass kicks in underneath the slower grooves, this band sounds fucking massive.

That's the feeling I kept coming back to throughout the record. Massive drums. Massive riffs. Massive bass. A huge vocal presence. Even when the songwriting becomes predictable, the physical quality of the performances keeps the album moving.

Strike and Kill also benefits from not pretending to be something it isn't. DevilDriver aren't trying to suddenly become a progressive-metal band or reinvent themselves as something completely experimental. They're refining a style they've been building for years and making sure it still hits with the same kind of aggression. There are some newer textures and atmospheric moments, but the core remains groove metal with serious weight behind it.

There are definitely moments where I wanted DevilDriver to take a few more risks. The acoustic passages, slower sections, and atmospheric textures suggest they have another side that could be explored further. A little more of that contrast could help separate individual tracks and make the longer releases feel even more dynamic.

But the fundamentals are fucking solid. The guitars are heavy, the drums are often excellent, the bass gives the slower songs enormous weight, the vocals sound vicious, and the band clearly know how to create a riff that works in a room full of people.

As my first complete DevilDriver album experience, Strike and Kill leaves me with a pretty damn positive impression. It isn't without its repetitive moments, and the thirteen-track structure does expose some familiar patterns, but there's a lot here to enjoy. The record feels confident rather than desperate, heavy rather than simply loud, and aggressive without sacrificing groove.

“Dig Your Own Grave” opens the record with a fucking punch, “Dead in the Water” establishes the band's ability to build tension, “Strike and Kill” delivers one of the album's clearest defining moments, “Ride or Die” showcases the strength of the drumming, and “In the Moonlight” and “Summoning Shadows” prove that the band can create atmosphere when they step away from the core formula. By the time “All Bets Are Off” closes things out, you've heard almost every side of what DevilDriver are trying to accomplish.

They may not reinvent themselves here, but they don't necessarily need to. Strike and Kill is a heavy, aggressive, groove-driven record from a band that sounds completely locked into its strengths. I just wish they'd trusted some of their stranger and quieter ideas a little more because those are the moments that make me think there could be even more underneath the surface.

Still, as a first DevilDriver listen, this is a hell of an introduction. The riffs hit, the drums drive everything forward, the bass gives the record its physical weight, and Dez Fafara sounds like he's ready to chew through the microphone. Strike and Kill knows exactly what kind of record it wants to be, and when DevilDriver lock into that groove, it's fucking hard to ignore.