DevilDriver

It seems brutally unfair that since 2002, California metal act DevilDriver has continued living in the shadow of vocalist Dez Fafara’s shittier previous band, Coal Chamber. Sure, Fafara’s voice still sounds like Louis Armstrong choking on a glass sandwich, but the rest of the band? Dudes can play. Where CC fell flat on its ass with Guitar Center riffs and cut-and-paste songwriting, DevilDriver stands towering with well-crafted tunes fueled by jackhammer drum blasts and melodic speed-picking. Somewhere behind the Hot Topic sponsorship and Fafara’s grunting is a solid metal band that’s improved with each release. With luck, the soon-to-be released Beast will continue that trend. 

Updated 01/26/2011