Everyone loves a good needle drop, and the addition of contemporary music in TV shows has created many an iconic small screen moment. Whether it be Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” in Stranger Things or “How to Save a Life” in Grey’s Anatomy, the right song at the right time can be devastatingly effective. Just like DJ-ing a wedding or club night, pitch-perfect song selection often comes down to knowing your audience. Would a nostalgic ’80s tune evoke more emotion than an up-to-the-minute earworm? Would an underrated gem be more memorable than a familiar favorite?
Say what you like about Netflix’s Devil May Cry, but the show knows its audience. Adapting the video game franchise launched on the PlayStation 2 in 2001, the TV adaptation belongs to an ever-expanding franchise that encompasses multiple games, a short-lived anime series, novels, and much more. Devil May Cry is a bona fide sensation at this point, and the Netflix TV show is another success story, with 2025’s debut season scoring a truly impressive 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Part of the show’s appeal undeniably comes from its soundtrack, which draws heavily from 2000s rock and nü-metal. There is, obviously, a significant crossover between fans of those genres and gamers who played the original Devil May Cry, but even if the Netflix series is unapologetically targeting those raised on a diet of de-tuned riffs and ill-advised rapping, Devil May Cry‘s needle drops are still effective for those who don’t know their LinkedIn Park from their Limp Biscuit.
Highlights in Devil May Cry season 1 included Dante dispatching an army of Darkcom agents to Rage Against the Machine’s “Guerrilla Radio,” and the demonic highway chase using a remixed version of “Last Resort” by Papa Roach.
Happily, Devil May Cry season 2 continues in that vein and delivers some of the very best musical moments you’ll hear on any streaming platform this year. There’s more rap metal fun from Papa Roach, but also a tear-jerking moment between Dante and Lady pushed to greater heights by the heavy version of Evanescence’s “My Immortal.” There’s Vergil slaughtering Darkcom agents (it’s an occupational hazard) to Drowning Pool’s “Bodies,” and even a fun comedy montage featuring Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi.” A real treat for those who spent the 2000s in black hoodies and baggy pants.
Devil May Cry Is Missing A Big Part Of Season 1’s Musical Identity
The only slight disappointment in the musical stakes is that Devil May Cry season 2 no longer features Limp Bizkit’s “Rollin'” as the main intro theme. Fred Durst’s delightfully nonsensical 2000 anthem was the perfect opener during Devil May Cry‘s debut season, pumping up the adrenaline before each 30-minute installment of bloody demon violence. The track also felt like a peek inside Dante’s mind, his devil may care attitude and unresolved teenage angst expressed perfectly through Wes Borland’s otherworldly chugs and Durst’s lyrical ode to wheels.
Perhaps there was a rights issue, or maybe it was decided that “Rollin'” didn’t quite match the tone of Devil May Cry‘s second season, which contains more emotional beats and introspective characterization than before. Bringing back “the L-I-M-P Bizkit” may have felt out of place as the lead-in to some season 2 episodes, but it’s still hard to shake the feeling that something’s missing.
The Songs We Want To Hear In Devil May Cry Season 3
With Devil May Cry season 3 looking likely, the Netflix series will have to pick a whole new batch of anger anthems to accompany Dante’s battles against demonkind, and there are some in particular worth looking at.
For one, it’s surprising we haven’t already heard Linkin Park’s “Numb,” given there have already been around 20 different scenes it could’ve worked in. The prospect of a Devil May Cry action sequence set to the chaotic sounds of “Chop Suey” by System of a Down, meanwhile, may prove too good to resist. And while it feels a little on-the-nose, Slipknot’s “People=Sh*t” is a song Mundus’ demon army would surely appreciate.
If those ditites prove a little pricey, other worthy choices can be found in the discographies of P.O.D. (“Alive”), Saliva (“Click Click Boom”), and even Mudvayne (“Dig”). Finding out which radio rock memories Devil May Cry will bring back next is all part of the fun, and season 2 proves it’s a hallmark of the show that, as Korn once said, is here to stay.
Devil May Cry season 2 is currently streaming on Netflix.
- Release Date
-
April 3, 2025
- Network
-
Netflix
- Showrunner
-
Adi Shankar
-
Johnny Yong Bosch
Dante / Soldier #1 (voice)
-
Chris Coppola
Enzo / Frat Boy (voice)
