Beast (Special Edition)

iTunes Review

DevilDriver’s fifth studio album sets a benchmark in extreme metalcore right from the opening “Dead to Rights.” Drums explode like rapid-fire munitions while muscled guitar riffs wind tightly under Dez Farfara’s feral shrieks and howls — and this is all within the tune’s first minute. What’s more impressive is how fast the arrangements can change on a dime, as if to remind us that metal doesn’t abide by the laws of inertia — out of nowhere fretboard shredding turns notes into sonic confetti. As the title suggests, “Bring the Fight (To the Floor)” is an especially violent cut with drum-patterns played so fast that you might get an anxiety attack from trying to follow them too closely. Here the power of overdubbing makes for an awesome illusion that Farfara screams with a seamless attack that doesn’t allow him to stop and breathe. When a relentless rhythm is applied to this approach as heard on “Hardened,” his vocal performance turns into bezerker frenzy. “Talons Out (Teeth Sharpened)” boasts a barbed guitar hook, though it’s bonus track “Lost” that proves to be most memorable.