Devildriver
Devildriver, refers to bells Italian Wiccans used to drive evil forces away. It also refers to a kick butt heavy metal band from Santa Barbara California that turned the Palladium in Worcester in to a giant mosh pit this past Friday night. Devildriver is the headlining act on the Bound by the Road tour in which they are supporting their 2016 release Trust No One.
This show was not for the faint of heart and if you were close to the stage there was a good chance you were either elbowed in the head or kicked in the shins. Clearly Devildriver brings out the “best” in their fans and the faithful were in full force slamming in to one another during every song.
Devildriver has been around since 2002 and have had nine full length releases during this span. They have also had too many members coming in and out of the band to mention. This band is the brainchild of vocalist Dez Fafara and only remaining original member. Dez is also the lead singer of 1990’s metal band Coal Chamber who had three gold records between 1997 and 2002.
The current line-up of the band consists of Dez on vocals, Mike Spreitzer guitars, Neal Tiemann guitars, Diego Ibarra bass and Austin D’Amond on the drums. This is a professional powerhouse line up that gets up there and just rips it up every night.
The band kicked off the show with End of the Line, also the lead track on their 2005 release The Fury of Our Maker’s Hand. Without hesitation the band ripped through a number of their classics including the heartfelt, I Could Care Less and Cry for Me Sky (Eulogy of the Scorned).
The award for strange cover by a metal band goes to Devildriver for their version of Awolnation’s massive hit Sail. Supposedly singer Dez Fafara sons turned him on to the song and he decided to put in on their 2013 release Winter Kills. It actually sounds great live.
The rest of their eleven song set consisted of the following gems, Daybreak, My Night Sky, Before the Hangman’s Noose, Clouds Over California, Ruthless and show finale Meet the Wretched.
I must say that was an extremely short set for a headlining band. But nonetheless, they proved their metal tonight with a straight ahead no frills super heavy set!
The band is a worth a listen to and definitely a great live band to check out.
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