Dealing With Demons is the newest offering by Devildriver. 

With a bit of a weak start with Stay Away From Me, their first single, (personally, I didn’t care for this track) – it doesn’t work well as an opener. 

The 2nd song Vengeance Is Clear though, THIS is a fine welcome back after the Driver’s woeful Country cover album (though some liked it).  Dealing With Demons is a point the band is back on course.  Vengeance Is Clear is heavy enough to please, not overly fast, but a good follow up to Stay Away. 

Nest Of Vipers has a clean intro, then it hooks with a solo, drums and a heavy riff. Ok, we don’t pick up speed but continue a good quality after Vengeance. Nest Of Vipers is a decent track to bang your head to. There’s lots of lovely melodies throughout. 

Iona, the one about the black roses, yes, that’s pretty much the majority of the lyrics. The music is pretty intense, but the repetitive chorus is a bit out-dated. Good song overall, just with a thorn. 

Wishing – well, surprisingly, Dez sings clear on this track, making it one of the more unique offerings. You Give Me A Reason To Drink (featuring Dez’s son Simon), well if Californian metal isn’t enough, then you have another problem. It starts with a slow burn, then it keeps a reasonable level, with some PULSES. It’s a well placed middle track. 

Witches, this song just starts up right away, and has a bit of magic. So far, there haven’t been any fluent fast songs, which is very disappointing, BUT Witches does grant that, yet, it’s in places throughout the song, but still good to hear a little change of pace. 

It’s now time for the title track, Dealing With Demons.  Ok, a sweet melodic build, the Driver is good for these. Well, the tempo is up a bit, but still no major THRASHING/DEATH METAL offering. Maybe all that power went into Trust No One. 

The Damned Don’t Cry – this is it, THIS IS THE ONE. Very rapid intro, oh, but that’s it…. It is a favourable track, quite strong, especially with how it starts and levels up in the end. 

Closing track, Scars Me Forever shows that all of these songs are near the same pace. Some pick up in places, at the start, middle and end. But it’s sad there’s no CHAOTIC in your face tracks. At first, I was disappointed, but second listen, Dealing With Demons 1, yeah, there’s a 2nd part to come, is, well, it’s a good start back. 

This album isn’t all that bad, it isn’t great like The Last Kind Words, Fury Of Our Makers Hand, BEAST or Trust No One. It’s more in line with Pray for Villains, Winter Kills and their debut. 

6.5 on the richter scale.

-Scary.