DevilDriver
Beast

It was the end of summer 1999, I was a young teenager with a fresh face and a hairline still in the right place, ready to head back to high school. One fine day, a CD by a band I had heard of but never listened to fell into my hands. It was "Chamber Music" by Coal Chamber. It was love at first listen. They sounded powerful, edgy, Fafara's voice, peculiar as it was, fit perfectly in the context, everything seemed to make sense within. A few years later, "Dark Days" came out, and a few months after its release, Coal Chamber disbanded. Immersed in my sadness, the internet gave me hope: Fafara had founded a new band, and with a cool name to boot: Devildriver.

And here begins the slow descent into bitterness.

Reviewing the new "Beast" is a journey through my musical disappointments. It's a mental throwback to when I first played the first album of the new "fafariano" project, excited even by a crazy single like "I Couldn't Care Less," and asked myself, "Well, is this it?" But then you think about the new band, the first album, the chemistry to recreate, the pros and cons, so let's listen to the next one. It was already better, but nothing miraculous, at least they found a formula that seemed to work well for them, a kind of slightly sped-up Pantera with Fafara's voice adding a touch of originality to the project. Then you move on to "The Last Kind Words," which didn't surpass the previous levels, and there you start questioning the actual value of the band. Then you listen to the penultimate "Pray For Villains" and realize that no, the value here is quite little. All of this brings us to yet another chance you give these 5 rough guys, the brand new "Beast." And you listen to the opening of "Dead To Rights" and realize it's the same old story, nothing has changed, nothing will change, there will be the usual piece more or less around adequacy that will occasionally pop up on your iPod (in this case "Bring The Fight (To The Floor)" and "Blur," saved only by the ending) immersed in a jungle of yawns and in a formula that, after 4 albums, has a layer of dust an inch thick. There's not much to review here, the production doesn't change, the genre doesn't change, the double kick drum doesn't change (maximum respect for Boecklin, who is the usual war machine behind the drums), the guitar work doesn't change, nothing changes, Devildriver have effectively entered into AC/DC mode.

In conclusion: if you liked the previous Devildriver work, you won't have any problem loving this new work too. As for me, in doubt, I'll turn back to "Chamber Music."