Not All Who Wander Are Lost

So this is where Devil Driver supposedly became ‘Metal’. To be honest with you, I didn’t mind the band’s previous output. Sure, it had nu metal tendencies and got pretty boring after a while, but at least it was somewhat entertaining. With the release of this single and subsequent album however, we see a change in their sound, and what originality they may have once held has vanished. Devil Driver has become yet another metalcore clone, presumably to gain some more popularity.

So what does this sound like? Well, take Lamb of God’s chunky riffing and add in Trivium’s melodic soloing and you’d have a pretty good idea of the sound on this single. Throw in some stock standard metalcore vocals, usually screamed or shouted, and an admittedly nice absence of clean whiny vocals and you get this.

It’s not terrible. I could think of many metalcore bands which are worse. But the fact that the two songs on here are a forgettable romp through similar sounding riffs, the occasional melodic section and amateur soloing thrown in for the hell of it makes this not worth your time. The two songs just wander around in circles, not really going anywhere or doing anything that grabs your attention, and it is this meandering that brings it down. There is precisely one enjoyable part on here at 1:41 in Bound by the Moon, and even that sounds like it was stolen from As I Lay Dying.

With all these factors considered, it seems that Devil Driver will sink into the depths of mediocrity and be forgotten as yet another metalcore band. Everything on here has been done before and better. Download if you’re curious or really enjoy metalcore, otherwise stay away.