Devildriver - The Last Kind Words Review
Posted by Brandon Ratliff on 08.03.2007
Is the title a hint that this is the last album from them? Or a warning of things to come? Zobaczymy...
Devildriver – The Last Kind Words
Release Date: July 31, 2007
Label: Roadrunner Records
Produced By: Jason Suecof
First Single: Not All Who Wander Are Lost
Recommended Downloads: Not All Who Wander Are Lost, The Axe Shall Fall, Head Onto Heartache
Devildriver is:
Vocals: Dez Farfara
Guitar: Mike Spreitzer
Guitar: Jeff Kendrick
Bass: Jon Miller
Drums: John Boecklin
Tracklisting
1. Not All Who Wander Are Lost
2. Clouds Over California
3. Bound By The Moon
4. Horn Of Betrayal
5. These Fighting Words
6. Head Onto Heartache (Let Them Rot)
7. Burning Sermon
8. Monsters Of The Deep
9. Tirades Of Truth
10. When Summoned
11. The Axe Shall Fall
You know, even though I’ve been writing at this site for three years now, it is still kind of weird to do reviews of two consecutive albums for one band. Thus far, including this Devildriver review, I’ve done this for Papa Roach, Korn, Demon Hunter, Sevendust, and Trivium.
That, however, is beside the point. But what IS the point you ask? Well today we are going to take a look see and determine how critically lambasted Devildriver’s (or is it Devil Driver’s?) newest album stacks up. So let’s get to the gettin’ eh?
Click the picture to buy the album.
From the opening guitar riff of “Not All Who Wander Are Lost” to the odd organ and clean guitar closing of “The Axe Shall Fall” you will notice that The Last Kind Words is heavier than solid lead and rarely ever relents in its ferocity. If the third time really is the charm, this is a shining proof of that. The guitars are meatier and heavier, the vocals are more scathing, and the bass and drumming is more pounding than ever. The writing has been stepped up a notch from that of the last album as well, with every single song this time around having a guitar solo in it, and the guitar riffs being much more intricate. Not a single song on this album is bland or boring, and all of them will come right out at some point and kick you in the teeth if you aren’t paying attention. Simply put, this album is heavy, and that’s just the way Devildriver wanted it.
But like any album, even those that get perfect scores, this album does have its faults. One of the drawbacks with trying to create a monster of this magnitude is a seeming apathy towards all things melodic. “The Axe Shall Fall” is a damn near perfect example of Devildriver mixing it up by (ironically) throwing a church organ into the fold next to a lot of clean guitars, but beyond that, most of the few other bouts of melodic passages seem mildly out of place at best and shoehorned in at worst. Some of the guitar solos (I figured I’d touch on that seeing as how that is one of the band’s big selling points for this album) are barely beyond the rudimentary stages of soloing and feel as if they were put in just so the band could say they have a solo in every single song. One tip to you guys, a solo does not make a good song and seeing as how neither Jeff Kendrick nor Mike Spreitzer are anything near virtuosos, they do not have the need to solo for the sake of it. Devildriver is one of those bands that should only implement them if they are complimentary to the song as a whole, and in many of the cases here, they are not. “Horn Of Betrayal” is a perfect example of how to do a complimentary solo correctly, and so I hope in the future they keep that in mind.
The only other complaint I can register is something that I will openly admit is just based off of my own opinion and should not be taken for fact, or even criticism at that. I mentioned this in my review of The Fury Of Our Maker’s Hand two years ago, but I can’t help but to feel that the lack of original lead guitarist Evan Pitts is something of a missing link in this band’s music. His influence could still be slightly felt on that album (and appropriately as I have heard unconfirmed rumors that some of the riffs from Fury were written by him prior to his departure from the band), but here it seems to be almost gone. I can’t quite place my finger on what it is about him that made the first album so special, but there he definitely brought something that rose Devildriver’s music above heavy for the sake of being heavy to…well, artfully metal for lack of a better (or any at all) term. Again, I want to note that this could just be me talking and this is a matter entirely of my opinion, but I do feel it is worth noting.
I’ll say it right out: The Last Kind Words is a good album from Devildriver. It is however, not a great album. As far as heaviness and the writing in general, it is a slight step above Fury. But when you factor in the forced melody and soloing, I think it brings it back to about on par with that album. Fans of Fury will eat this album up, and honestly, I say go for it. It is a bit harsher on the ears, but still quite listenable. It would have been nice to see more truly great songs like “Hold Back The Day,” “End Of The Line,” and “The Fury Of Our Maker’s Hand” show up here, but unlike that album, there is absolutely no filler here. Every single song is worth its weight in metal, even if they do run together a bit. Even so, this is a very good album from start to finish, and I will recommend picking it up if you are looking for something nice and heavy. In that, The Last Kind Words definitely does not disappoint, and if the next album from Devildriver stands as a perfect blend of the best elements of all three albums they have thus far, I will boldly go ahead and call it a contender for 2009 (assuming they stay on the every other summer schedule) metal album of the year.
The 411: A near relentless attack from start to finish, The Last Kind Words will be in rotation for a lot of heavy music fans for a while to come. It lacks the melodic depth that Fury contained, and some of the solos do seem kind of wedged in for the sake of having a solo, but otherwise there is not a whole lot you can fault this album for. I do wish they would experiment a bit more like they did on the near perfect closer “The Axe Shall Fall,” but you can’t win them all eh? I will give a recommendation to this one for heavy music fans. There aren’t a whole lot of sing-a-long moments, but who really goes into a Devildriver album looking for that anyways?
