Band:	DevilDriver
Album:	The Last Kind Words
Style:	Melodic death metal, Groove thrash metal
Release date:	June 05, 2007
A review by:	Deadsoulman

01. Not All Who Wander Are Lost
02. Clouds Over California
03. Bound By The Moon
04. Horn Of Betrayal
05. These Fighting Words
06. Head On To Heartache (Let Them Rot)
07. Monsters Of The Deep
08. Tirades Of Truth
09. Burning Sermon
10. When Summoned
11. The Axe Shall Fall

Devildriver's first release was mainly crap. 2005's The Fury Of Our Maker's Hand showed a dramatic improvement in the quality of their music, but suffered from a sometimes bland songwriting. It was the type of album that you just forget after a few days. Now, I cannot speak for the long term, but The Last Kind Words follows this upward trend of progression.

The form has not really changed, though the content has. Where before you could see a bunch of guys trying their hardest to sound extreme, in order to dissipate the last remnants of Dez Fafara's past and to move away from the more alternative scenes, Today you get a real band that have obviously, definitely, eventually found their way. I think the reason they've released such a fine album as The Last Kind Words is that they probably feel more secure about their place in the metal world after having toured with a lot of well-established bands (In Flames, Lamb Of God, Dimmu Borgir). As I said, the form is still the same, i.e. a mix of modern thrash, Gothenburg metal and hints of metalcore with an enormous production. To quote jupitreas's review of their previous album, "Devildriver have one very useful knack, which is sounding very modern and fresh even though they use musical elements that have already been played to death by other bands." That is absolutely true; you can find influences (rip-offs?) from a lot of bands in here, though the output is only Devildriver.

Although they've sometimes resumed their old habit of completely missing the target, like on the two tiresome, more alternative songs "Burning Sermon" (and its very strong nu metal feel) and "Monsters Of The Deep", most of the time they display amazing abilities at writing excellent, catchy songs. What impresses me most is the way the guitar players really stepped up and proposed some very cool riffs halfway between very fast thrash ("Clouds Over California") and excellent melodic death ("Bound By The Moon", "Horn Of Betrayal"). They are really the strong point of the band, as they are able to throw catchy melodic tunes that remind me of old In Flames as well as thrashing their way across the whole album (like on "Not All Who Wander Are Lost"). And when they go into pure metalcore, they simply write the standout track of the album, "These Fighting Words". This song is amazingly catchy, with the kind of chorus that you'll never forget, like it or not. It is bound to become a real live hymn. The second part of the album is a bit less amazing, save for the great closing track "The Axe Shall Fall" but the great achievement of the band is that The Last Kind Words is never boring. The other strong point is Dez Fafara's vocals. I've always been quite fond of his voice, and he confirms he's a very good extreme singer, as easy with low growls as with screeches.

As you may have begun to understand, this is a very strong album by a band which, I think, has not yet exploited its full potential. I am sure they can do much better, for example by varying the pace a bit (for now it's fast, fast, fast) or stopping to write filler tracks. When they do this, they'll be a real killer band. I hope those indeed were the last kind words, and that they're really going to release the fury soon.

Highlights: Clouds Over California, Bound By The Moon, Horn Of Betrayal, These Fighting Words