Trust No One

Author: Primož Novak

Artist: Devildriver
Label: Napalm Records
Release: year_month
Runtime: 41:19
Rating: 4/5

DevilDriver have always held onto a certain consistency. Over the years they’ve become an important part of the American metal scene’s wave that pushed out the burnt-out, bored-to-death nu metal. Their career has had its minor dips and comebacks, and given how often they put out albums, they kept the quality up. But with their last album »Winter Kills« things got a bit stuck. It felt like the band had run out of ideas. Of all the tracks, the best-standing one was still the Awolnation cover, Sail, which is not exactly a good sign for an album’s quality. After that the band took a somewhat longer break, and singer and founding member Dez Fafara decided to revive the cult nu metal outfit Coal Chamber, with whom he put out the album Rivals, but there was no obvious success.

Last year DevilDriver got back to work on a new album, but this time there were some hefty lineup changes. Longtime drummer John Boecklin was replaced by the seasoned Austin D’Amond, who had previously proven himself in Chimaira and Bleed the Sky. In short, a drummer who’s undoubtedly right for the style. Guitarist Jeff Kendrick was replaced by Neal Tiemann, who gathered his experience in more hard rock and alternative rock bands.

So the refreshed DevilDriver lineup had to prove they’re still worth your attention. To give the record a solid guarantee, they went back to Audiohammer Studios, where the meticulous producers Mark Lewis and Jason Suecof recorded and polished the thing. Trust No One hits hard with Testimony of Truth, which is packed with catchy melodies. It carries on with Bad Deeds, which highlights the more aggressive side, with the powerful drumming really standing out. So the band has stayed aggressive, groovy and, of course, melodic. The emphasis on melody has actually been bigger since the second album, when guitarist Mike Spreitzer joined and brought in plenty of melodic death metal traits. That made DevilDriver a bit more distinctive, since a lot of other bands were noticeably copying Pantera. Do that and you lose originality pretty quickly, which DevilDriver didn’t want. This time DevilDriver get to the point fast. No long intros dragging the songs out, the tracks are simply structured, and the dynamics are solid too. They also pull off an atmospheric track that keeps the whole thing in suspense until it breaks into full-on punch. The problem with this album is mainly that, as a whole, it doesn’t convince the way some of their earlier records did. There are a few standout tracks, like Daybreak and the title track. The closer, For What’s It’s Worth, is solid. It tries to bring in an epic element, but again doesn’t land the way it did on an earlier album. The band put a lot of work into this record and you can definitely hear the effort, but you can’t call it a masterpiece.

The record is undoubtedly very polished. Fafara’s vocals deserve special praise: he really went the extra mile this time to fill every gap with lines. The Spreitzer/Tiemann guitar duo confidently serve up a whole batch of thrash/groove metal riffs, melodies and solos. D’Amond’s drumming is a major factor on this album. He’s full of original fills, fast pedal work and technical chops. The drumming in DevilDriver has gone up a few notches this time. The sound is also still decently polished, which fits the band’s style nicely.

With Trust No One, which boasts a refreshed lineup, DevilDriver try to prove they’re not ready for the scrap heap yet. The album isn’t a game-changer, but it’s good enough to win over a few new fans and keep the old ones. In short, even today, after more than 10 years, we can consider DevilDriver one of the main representatives of the modern American metal scene.

Lineup

Dez Fafara – vocals

Mike Spreitzer – guitar

Neal Tiemann – guitar

Austin D’Amond – drums

Chris Towning – bass

Production

Mark Lewis, Jason Suecof (vocals)

Tracklist