“We’ll see how long you last…”

Consider that your only warning. California groove metal veterans DevilDriver have just unleashed the blood-soaked title track from their forthcoming album Strike and Kill, and it’s every bit the pulverizing lesson in brutality that longtime fans have been salivating for. The album lands this Friday via Napalm Records, and if the title cut is any indication, Dez Fafara and company are not here to play nice.

“Strike and Kill” is arguably the most vicious track on an album stacked with contenders. The band hurls listeners through a maximalist blend of melodeath, slam, groove, and thrash — every ingredient that has made DevilDriver a genre-defining force for two decades now painted in vibrant shades of red. Blisteringly technical riffage from guitar duo Alex Lee and Gabe Mangold collides with the dizzyingly swift drumming of Davier Perez, while Fafara’s iconic snarl presides over the carnage like a headmaster with a cracked ruler.

Speaking of lessons — that’s exactly what the song is about. “‘Strike and Kill’ is a song about individuals that have to learn lessons the hard way,” Fafara explains. “Sometimes in life, you need to learn things the hard way in order to make your next decision or next move properly. Beware the moves you make at midnight behind emotion and without any thought of consequence. For you will learn lessons, and they will be taught to you the hard way.”

Watch the official music video for “Strike and Kill” here: https://youtu.be/FEx__rRXxII

The road to Strike and Kill has already been paved with bodies. Both lead singles have dominated the Metal Contraband charts, earned heavy rotation on SXM’s Liquid Metal (hitting number 2 on the “Devil’s Dozen”), and been embraced by the DevilDriver faithful as a glorious return to form. Frontman Dez Fafara even recently took over Liquid Metal itself — because of course he did.

Following the career-defining double album Dealing With Demons Vols. 1 & 2 — with Vol. 1 spending an absurd 15 weeks at number 1 on metal radio — the band sets out on a rabid hunt with Strike and Kill. Expect that trademark DevilDriver alchemy: melodeath elegance, blackened atmosphere, tectonic grooves, and Fafara’s visceral delivery pushed to its most feral edge.

The album bursts open with the incendiary “Dig Your Own Grave,” a barrage of assault-rifle kick drums and crunchy riffs that cast the listener straight into the abyss. From there, “Dead in the Water” showcases the vibrant melodeath tapestries of Lee and Mangold, while “Sanctified In Scars” folds in industrial pulses and ethereal textures to frame Fafara’s venom in blackened tremolo excellence. “In the Moonlight” and “Never Coming Home” wrap the brutality in serenely blissful guitar harmonies, “Ride or Die” is pure metal inertia, and technical showcases like “Headed for the Fall” and “You’re Just a Ghost” bend patterns until your neck cracks trying to keep up. “Summoning Shadows” delivers the album’s longest respite via textured acoustic guitars before the band comes crashing back with triumphant power, and thrashy heavyweights “Shut the Silence On” and “Oath of Iron” set up the cataclysmic finale of “All Bets Are Off.”

Strike and Kill will be available in a CD digipak, digital album, and a small army of vinyl variants — including a solid blue gatefold, a translucent verde Napalm Records mailorder exclusive, a splattered variant with a 24-page LP-sized booklet, a white label edition, and a solid orange Indie Merch exclusive. Collectors, sharpen your credit cards.

STRIKE AND KILL TRACK LISTING:
1. Dig Your Own Grave
2. Dead in the Water
3. Sanctified In Scars
4. Strike and Kill
5. In the Moonlight
6. Ride or Die
7. Headed for the Fall
8. Shut the Silence On
9. Never Coming Home
10. Summoning Shadows
11. You’re Just a Ghost
12. Oath of Iron
13. All Bets Are Off

DevilDriver are also hitting the road hard in support of the record. Catch them on tour:

8/14 — San Diego, CA — Observatory North Park
8/15 — Las Vegas, NV — Brooklyn Bowl
8/16 — Phoenix, AZ — Marquee
8/18 — San Antonio, TX — Aztec Theater
8/19 — Austin, TX — Come and Take It Live
8/20 — Houston, TX — House of Blues
8/22 — Dallas, TX — House of Blues
8/23 — Oklahoma City, OK — Diamond Ballroom
8/25 — Chicago, IL — Bottom Lounge
8/26 — Milwaukee, WI — The Rave
8/29 — Colorado Springs, CO — Sunshine Studios
8/30 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Depot
9/1 — Boise, ID — Treefort Music Hall
9/2 — Reno, NV — Club Underground
9/3 — Sacramento, CA — Goldfield
9/4 — San Jose, CA — The Ritz
9/5 — Anaheim, CA — House of Blues

Pre-order Strike and Kill now, watch the new video above, and prepare to learn a few lessons the hard way when the full album drops Friday via Napalm Records. Class is in session.