Trust No One

Personnel: Dez Fafara (vocals); Mike Spreitzer (guitar, programming); Neal Tiemann (guitar); Austin D'Amond (drums).
Audio Mixer: Mark Lewis .
Recording information: Audio Hammer Studios; Audio Vault; HaunteDD Studios; Nrg.
The seventh studio long-player from the Santa Barbara-based rockers, Trust No One finds DevilDriver delivering the goods, as per usual. The word "innovate" has never found its way onto the band's to-do list, so it should come as no surprise to longtime listeners that the 12-track LP stays close to the source. That said, as purveyors of molar-bashing, death-driven, melodic groove metal, DevilDriver have both the pedigree and the experience to warrant more than just a cursory listen from prospective clients. Trust No One waste little time with prepping the ears for decibel insertion, with "Testimony of Truth" arriving via a palm-muted blast of a breakdown and exiting via a very large hole in the back of the listener's head. Elsewhere, the beefy and punitive "My Night Sky" slows things down to a nice, steady pummeling, while the punishing lead single "Daybreak" never lets up, hurling face first into the blistering title cut, which features some nice melodic leads from Mike Spreitzer and new guitarist Neil Tiemann. Overall, it's another solid outing from the veteran earth-shakers, and while it won't be inciting any revolutions, its sonic heft will certainly rearrange your furniture, and quite possibly your face. ~ James Christopher Monger