by Johnny Loftus

Its nods to post-grunge melodic accessibility and generally workmanlike sound hurt DevilDriver's 2003 debut, and the murkiness of frontman Dez Fafara's relationship with his previous group Coal Chamber didn't necessarily help. There was promise amidst DevilDriver's riffs and runs, but harnessing it was the problem. 2005's Fury of Our Maker's Hand is the solution. DevilDriver has amplified every facet of their sound. They've turned their backs on the kind of plodding melodic obviousness that kills credibility on the raging metal side, instead hardwiring a vicious catchiness right into the guitar lines and Fafara's esophageal grind. Drummer John Boecklin slays on "Bear Witness Unto" and in the furious time-shifts of opener "End of the Line"; actually, Boecklin pretty much slays throughout Fury. "Grinf**cked," besides having the best name on the record, also exemplifies DevilDriver's union of black melody to razor-sharp playing. "Pale Horse Apocalypse" is a traditionalist thrash workout, and "Before the Hangman's Noose" approaches the hard-tack American metal of Lamb of God. The slower pace, spiritualism, and double bass tussles of "Sin & Sacrifice" seem like a tribute to European metal. Fury of Our Maker's Hand is such a severe turn away from the falter of their first album -- and a turn toward something hungry, focused, and ready to be devoured by metal faithful everywhere -- that DevilDriver may have made their true debut the second time around.