Crime Records

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Album review: Winter Kills - DevilDriver


Intro:
DevilDriver just released their 6th studio album, called “Winter Kills”. It is the first release apart from long time label Roadrunner Records. DevilDriver went constantly away from their Nu Metal image and created heavier and thrashier albums than their first two. Their sound could be described as a mix of Groove Metal riffs with Melodeath vocals and Thrash elements. Let’s see in which musical direction this album goes.

Track by track:
The first track, “Oath of the Abyss”, is one of the strongest songs on this album. Powerful, pretty fast but at the same time melodic. Even though it is not as catchy as their biggest hit “Clouds over California”. “Ruthless”, the second track, isn’t as fast and not as straight forward as the first song. This one is more Groove than Melodeath. The third one, “Desperate Times”, is more In Flames than Pantera. I love it. It is fast but yet melodic and catchy. The lyrics are awesome as well. My favorite song on the whole album. The title track “Winter Kills” is the grooviest song on the album. Not my thing. “The Appetite” is another awesome song. Great guitars, awesome drums and powerful vocals. “Gutted” is definitely the heaviest song of the album. It is a “in your face” death metal song. I have to say I prefer the melodic songs. DevilDriver shouldn’t try to be something, they are not. “Curses and Epitaphs” sounds too generic. It is just too similar to the other songs on the album. The eighth song “Carings Overkill” is another good example of the awesome guitar work. Good song with a great solo. “Haunting Refrain” is a very fast mediocre song. “Tripping over Tombstones” is just another generic mediocre song. The last song is a cover of Awolnation’s “Sail”. I think there are way better ways to end an album.

Conclusion:
I think the 49 minutes DevilDriver were just too much for me. This album has good songs, but there are too many generic sounding songs. This album carry on with the DevilDriver sound, but it will not get them new fans. If you like DevilDriver and their musical style, the album is worth a buy. If you don’t, I wouldn’t suggest you to buy it. But that is just my opinion.

Rating 5.5 out of 10
(hw)




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