Overall Score: 8/10 Songs: 8/10 Replay Value: 8/10 Consistency: 8/10 Pros: A confident return to form for one of modern metals most consistent bands Cons: Very little
There are very few certainties in life, but one thing you can set your watch by is DevilDriver and their capacity to keep generating banger albums. Dealing with Demons Vol. II is the bands tenth album and comes on the heels of their 20th Anniversary. To the absolute surprise of no one, it picks up exactly where its counterpart Dealing with Demons Vol.I left off, and is a crushing beast of a record.
It seems hyperbolic, especially when a band is as seasoned and in sync as DevilDriver are to say that each album they put out is a banger, but when you are as consistent as they are, it seems like a no brainer. Whether it’s the sobering Nothing Lasts Forever or the ripping ragers of Summoning and the crushing Bloodbath, this is DevilDriver’s most rounded and well put together album since 2009’s Pray for Villains.
There is a viciousness here that while being one of the band’s trademarks, feels particularly pointed here, that has been somewhat missing from some of their latter releases. With that said there is also a lot of soul searching to be found on this record. This is the sound of a band and more specifically a man reckoning with his own mortality, making the record heavy and hard hitting. It’s a Hard Truth & If Blood is Life musically and lyrically is where they will hit you the hardest.
20 years into their career DevilDriver sound like a band completely reborn. While on the surface this may seem like just another album by them, dig a little deeper and you’ll find the real magic. This is a muscular, lean album trimmed of any and all fat. It feels like they have hit their defining moment as a band. Dealing with Demons Vol.II is not only a great metal album by masters of their craft, but its a wholly relatable emotionally resonant one that is reflective of the times we have all been living through. Stripped bare and down to their bones, DevilDriver has come out swinging and once again no one is safe.
Dealing with Demons Vol. II is out now via Napalm Records with physical copies available via the online store.
