Fresh from their conquest at Download, where they attempted a world record breaking-sized circle pit and succeeded in creating not one but two, Devildriver certainly have nothing to prove here tonight at the Metal Hammer Golden God Awards. Their Download performance was arguably one of the best of the entire festival and it’s safe to say Dez and Co. have firmly established themselves as the live band to watch. So it is in a rather different setting from Donington Park, namely the Indigo2, that Devildriver will once again show us all exactly how it’s fucking done.
Greeted with rapturous applause as they take to the stage after the legendary Saxon, one gets the feeling the rabid reception is equal amounts a collective tipping-of-the-hat for their complete subjugation of all at Download as it is pure and simple glee knowing we’re in for more of the same immaculate brutality.
With only a 20 minutes set to do it in they waste no time getting down to the nitty gritty, tearing straight into ‘End of the Line’ and proving once again that it doesn’t take much provocation from the band to get all present to behave like a bunch of mentalists, the crowd do just that. Mania levels go up a notch, if that was at all possible, when ‘Clouds Over California’ starts and I can’t help but wonder why these guys aren’t huge already - they’re tight and heavy as fuck and a reminder of all that is wondrous and beautiful about metal.
Some bands may have looked at tonight’s show as a chance to kick back, get drunk and generally take it easy, but clearly Devildriver aren’t ‘some bands’. They’re in fine form as always, ripping through songs with forceful intent, and if anyone witnessing this malicious joie de vivre arrived at this shindig questioning the Devildriver cause there’s no doubt they’ll leave a convert.
The unrelenting display of groove-infused power, which has seen the band follow a song from their second album with one from their third, is appropriately brought to its unfortunate end with ‘Pray for Villains”, a track off their soon to be released fourth album of the same name. Cramming an hour’s worth of energy into a mere 20 minutes is no mean feat, and tonight’s show, an encore of sorts to their absolute routing of Download, proves once again that not only are Devildriver here to stay, they’re here to slay.