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DEVIL YOU KNOW
The Beauty Of Destruction
Nuclear Blast Records

After what seemed like an eternity, the wait is finally over. DEVIL YOU KNOW unleashes The Beauty Of Destruction on the world April 29 via Nuclear Blast Records. I have had this one for a while and it has gotten a lot of play in my household. As I’ve said many a time before, there is a right way and a wrong way to do metalcore. And quite a bit of this record can’t even be considered as such. It is quite simply face-melting metal that will fuck your speakers up, down, and sideways! There’s not an overabundance of blast beats, breakdowns, or attempts to go off on crazy musical tangents, who has time for that nonsense?

If you don’t already know the core of the group is Howard Jones on vocals, John Sankey on the drums and Francesco Artusato on guitar. Together with Ryan Wombacher (bass) and Roy Lev-Ari (guitar), DEVIL YOU KNOW has totally lived up to the hype and then some starting with the leadoff single “Seven Years Alone”. Jones has been one of my favorite vocalists for the past decade and to see him back after a two year absence is great. He absolutely shines on this and every other song, whether he’s singing, growling, or screaming. Opening track “A New Beginning” is an in-your-face slab of metal that is just looking to fuck shit up, guitar riffs flying about and wrecking shop. And right after that comes “My Own”, which has elements of old QUEENSRYCHE (don’t look at me like that, it’s TRUE!!) and is definitely a favorite of mine. The arrangement on this track is goddamn flawless and when you hear it you’ll agree with me.

“Embracing the Torture” is a bit rougher than the first two, and could totally be an MMA fighter’s intro music as he or she walked to the Octagon. I also really dug the way that “For The Dead And Broken” totally mixes it up and changes the pace after the all-out assault of the first three tunes. This is probably the most traditional metal song on the album, and for that reason it is yet another standout. We slow down for the clean guitars introducing “It’s Over”, Jones’ voice sounding better than ever on this song. Jeezus, this whole band is just outstanding! Another favorite of mine from the very first note is “A Mind Insane”. The aggression meter is pinging somewhere around a 15 out of 10 on this track and I think it will go over extremely well live on this current tour. I’ll let you guys know after I catch the May 23 gig here.

The next two songs, “Crawl From The Dark” and “The Killer” are two of the most melodic, yet also darkest and most evil-sounding on this album. So OBVIOUSLY I loved them, right? “Shut It Down” is another stellar track, as is slow, dark, and menacing closer “As Bright As The Darkness”. With DEVIL YOU KNOW, it is like the stars aligned and the Metal Gods saw fit to bestow this gift of an album upon us mere mortals. And these five guys are a winning combination, that’s for sure. The Beauty Of Destruction is out April 29. I suggest you get your copy ASAP.

STANDOUT TRACKS: ALL OF THEM

4.5 Out Of 5.0

Pick up your copy of The Beauty Of Destruction in the KNAC.COM More Store right HERE.

Check out Damian's website at www.ampsandgreenscreens.com!