DevilDriver is two decades deep and still running the circuit like a band with something to prove. The Santa Barbara groove-metal outfit brings the Strike and Kill Tour to the Aztec Theatre on Tuesday, August 18 — headlining behind their eleventh studio album, which drops July 10 on Napalm Records. By the time San Antonio gets them, the record will have been out for nearly six weeks and the setlist will lean hard on new material. Dez Fafara put it plainly: “My headspace hasn’t changed, I have not become complacent or soft in my view of the world or in my music.” You can believe him.
About DevilDriver
DevilDriver formed in Santa Barbara in 2002 under the name Deathride before a copyright dispute prompted a name change. The band’s name comes from Italian folk tradition, where bells were rung to drive away evil forces. Vocalist Dez Fafara is the only member who’s been there since the beginning, but Strike and Kill carries a notable return: founding bassist Jon Miller is back, rejoining Fafara, guitarists Alex Lee and Gabe Mangold, and drummer Davier Ortega Perez for the first time in years. That’s a lineup with real history behind it, and a fanbase that tracks these things closely will notice.
The new record follows the career-spanning double album Dealing with Demons. Lead single “Dig Your Own Grave” debuted on SiriusXM’s Liquid Metal, described as blending melodic death metal and metalcore elements with abrasive rhythmic riffs and eerie synthesizers, anchored by a death metal-influenced breakdown. Fafara described the track as being about “how one wrong decision, one wrong move can see your whole world affected negatively.” The album’s broader direction was framed as “California groove” — the band’s own shorthand for groove metal with the abrasion turned all the way up.
About the Aztec Theatre
The Aztec Theatre is a 1,477-capacity theater at 104 N. St. Mary’s St. in downtown San Antonio. For a heavy metal bill at this level, the theater format works in the show’s favor — the low end settles differently than a club floor, and the sight lines give a headliner with stage production real room to work. It’s an A-list venue on the city’s heavy music calendar, and this one counts.
Tickets & Show Details
Doors at 7:00 PM. Support comes from Upon A Burning Body (metalcore) and Ov Sulfur (blackened deathcore) — a full-spectrum heavy bill from the first set to the last. If you’re going for the complete show, be there at doors. Tickets are on sale now via the link below.