DEVILDRIVER Shares Music Video For 'Dead In The Water' Single From Upcoming 'Strike And Kill' Album

In anticipation DEVILDRIVER's rabid new album, "Strike And Kill", due out July 10 via Napalm Records, the groove metal veterans first released the boisterous lead single "Dig Your Own Grave", cracking over 400,000 cross-platform streams, becoming a mainstay on SiriusXM's Liquid Metal and stampeding up the Metal Contraband charts just a month after release.

If you know what's good for you, you'll pay close attention to the words on their next bloodthirsty ripper, "Dead In The Water", out today. This single is built upon cataclysmic blast beats and ornately blackened guitarmonies, delivering the good with vibrance and violence. Frontman Dez Fafara's delivery remains venomous, galvanizing listeners with affirmations of perseverance and resilience in the face of adversity.

Dez on "Dead In The Water": "This is one of the most positive songs I've ever written lyrically, coming from a very dark time straight into blinding light. I needed to empower others to do the same as I did, and tell them to 'stay the course,' life turns around if given the chance to flourish. The vibe musically on this is very old-school DEVILDRIVER and the entire band is cracking hard here, if you're a long time listener you're gonna love this one! Enjoy!"

With the lineup of frontman and mastermind Dez Fafara, virtuoso guitar duo of Alex Lee and Gabe Mangold, eruptive drummer Davier Ortega Perez, and the return of founding bass legend Jon Miller, "Strike And Kill" sees DEVILDRIVER return to its carnivorous origin, reigniting the incendiary sound that founded their legacy, a must listen for all fans of the genre.

Fafara commented on "Strike And Kill": "My headspace hasn't changed. I have not become complacent or soft in my view of the world or in my music. Metal is our outlet as listeners and writers, so on this record we focused on 'getting it all out' lyrically, and backing those lyrics with savage, relentless music that fuels the heavy California groove like no other. DEVILDRIVER has never sounded like any other band, we do our own thing in our own way, and I'm the most proud of that.

"I'm so proud of these musicians, this music, and the vibe around this record," he adds. "DEVILDRIVER sounds like no one else out there right now, we are here to strike and kill!"

About "Dig Your Own Grave", Fafara previously said: "'Dig Your Own Grave' is about how one wrong decision, one wrong move can see your whole world turned upside down, effectively 'digging' your own grave… it's that simple. It can also refer to how your decisions can fuck someone else. This is why there's the line 'Six feet ain't deep enough for you,' because only a deep, deep hole is fitting for what you've done or tried to do to others. Be careful when you choose to make decisions at midnight."

Following DEVILDRIVER's career-defining double album "Dealing With Demons Vol. 1 & 2" — with "Vol. 1" sitting at #1 at metal radio for a triumphant 15 weeks, and "Vol. 2" celebrated by internationally revered media like Metal Injection, Kerrang! and Blabbermouth, who lauded "you can't stop the unstoppable" — the band sets out on a rabid hunt with "Strike And Kill", holding the blade to your throat, and serving up that trademark DEVILDRIVER blend of melodeath elegance, blackened atmosphere, tectonic grooves, and Fafara's iconic visceral delivery.

Wasting no time, the album bursts open with the incendiary "Dig Your Own Grave", a flurry of assault rifle kicks and crunchy riffs encircle the listener casting them into the waiting abyss before transitioning into "Dead In The Water", showcasing the vibrant melodeath tapestries of master guitar duo Alex Lee and Gabe Mangold. "Sanctified In Scars" implements industrial pulsating beats and ethereal sonic textures, sanctifying Fafara's venomous voice with blackened tremolo excellence. The album’s title track, "Strike And Kill", is a reconciliation of hardships and lessons learned, built upon the backs of blisteringly technical riffage and dizzyingly swift drumming by Davier Perez. Tracks like "In The Moonlight" and "Never Coming Home" wrap listeners in serenely blissful guitarmonies, elevating the brutality with elegance and emotion. "Ride Or Die" unleashes pure metal inertia, pulling listeners in with unrelenting force. Exemplifying their technical edge with tracks like "Headed For The Fall" and "You're Just A Ghost", the band embraces mind-bendingly off-kilter patterns that spin listeners' heads. "Summoning Shadows" offers the albums longest respite from carnage, with textured acoustic guitars building tension before the band comes crashing back in with triumphant power. "Shut The Silence On" and "Oath Of Iron" get super thrashy with their ballsy riffage and blast beats, before "All Bets are Off" brings things to a cataclysmic conclusion.

"Strike And Kill" track listing:

01. Dig Your Own Grave
02. Dead In The Water
03. Sanctified In Scars
04. Strike And Kill
05. In The Moonlight
06. Ride Or Die
07. Headed For The Fall
08. Shut The Silence On
09. Never Coming Home
10. Summoning Shadows
11. You're Just A Ghost
12. Oath Of Iron
13. All Bets Are Off

Additionally, DEVILDRIVER will be touring across the western United States with UPON A BURNING BODY and OV SULFUR. Kicking off August 14 in San Diego, California, the "Strike And Kill" North American tour 2026 will hit a slew of major cities, including Dallas, Chicago, Salt Lake City, and Reno, before its thunderous conclusion on September 5 in Anaheim, California.

DEVILDRIVER is:

Dez Fafara - Vocals
Davier Ortega Perez - Drums
Jon Miller - Bass
Alex Lee - Guitar
Gabe Mangold - Guitar

Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral