DevilDriver

Winter Kills (Napalm Records)
By Rick Ecker

Winter Kills is the sixth studio album from American groove metal band DevilDriver, and first to feature bassist Chris Towning, who was a touring member since 2012, before joining permanently in February 2013. This album rages from start to finish, with balls-to-the-wall, drenched-in-sweat ragers, one after the other. From opener “Oath Of The Abyss,” with its heavy bass, thundering drums, shouted/screamed vocals, and pure aggression, right through to the closer (a cover of Awolnation’s “Sail”), the band plays straight-ahead metal with no apologies and no ballads. “Ruthless” has an intense groove, incredible double bass drumming, and hard-as-nails guitar playing. This album has a ton of highlights, like “Tripping Over Tombstones,” “Carings Overkill,” “Haunting Refrain” and “Gutted,” just to name a few. New bassist Towning fits in perfectly with the heavy and melodic bass riffs he lays down, singer Dez Fafara never lets up with his throat-shredding intensity, and the guitar riffs are fast and furious.

This is track after track of thrashing, grooving, head-banging heavy metal just the way you want it and done to perfection. Not a note is wasted and nothing is shocking — it’s just an album that begs to be played loud.
(www.napalmrecords.com)