After nearly 3 years, DevilDriver are back in action with ‘Trust No One’. This album finds the band retooled with Austin D’Amond handling drum duty, Neil Tiemann manning guitar, Diego Ibarra on bass, Dez Fafara (vocals) and Mike Spreitzer (guitar) round out the band. Together they have forged a formidable release that harkens back to the surgical steel delivery of ‘The Last Kind Words’.
Ripping open with dangerous pick harmonic flourishes, “Testimony Of Truth” waltzes in toxic tones and sets the stage for ‘Trust No One’. The opening intensity is heightened with the brilliant drum work of Austin D’Amond where he combines classic thrash grooves with assaulting blasts. “Bad Deeds” is musical pandemonium from start to finish. This song showcases how DevilDriver blur the lines of thrash and death. Head stomping riffs breakdown into single note blazes that coagulate into higher octave progressions. The guitars drive home feelings of panic and maniacal frenzy.
The lead guitar work in “Daybreak” requires special recognition. The main riffs are approachable and weighted with meaty hooks. However, the solo is exquisite with an abundance of classical flair. There are plenty of tasty licks throughout the album, but this cut is savory and sublime. The title track “Trust No One” is a factory of molten metal riffs. The entire band is snorting napalm and exhaling Armageddon as they threaten to destroy their instruments in the sonic equivalent of a nuclear bomb. As with each song on this album, Dez adds the coup de grace with vocals that lovingly embrace the searing standard of metal.
The final and most intriguing song on the album is “For What Its Worth”. The otherworldly reversed tracking of guitars and chorus rich space is transformed by demonic chords and pummeling drums into a haunting epitaph. This is the best song on the album as it blends in progressive elements with the unabating wrath, which defines the music of DevilDriver. If there is one weakness to reveal, it is the mix on this album. At times the vocals are lost behind the incredible wall of sound of ‘Trust No One’. This has a slight diminishing effect upon the final product. This far from a fatal flaw, but should be noted.
‘Trust No One’ embodies the vicious snapping jaws of American metal that is DevilDriver. The simpering delicacy of songs like “Sail” have been pitched for metal that hammers home all the brutal power and crushing mayhem that makes this musical genre great. ‘Trust No One’ by DevilDriver delivers a relentless metal experience that cuts deep with furious riffs and blistering vocal rage. Revel in the purifying fire of hell on earth with this new album and sing the praises of all that is metal.