Built around similarly named guts as the RUMBLE,  the engine in the DEVOUR is the Late Roll 56^TM  core.  It’s rated five points stronger than the Late Roll 51^TM core that was in the RUMBLE.  Visually, though, the DEVOUR core seems to bear more resemblance to the stronger Neutron^TM  core in the WRECKER which has a guts rating of 61.   I presume it’s due to the similarity to the WRECKER core shape that the first thing I noticed about the DEVOUR is that it definitely produces more angular motion than the RUMBLE.   Rating-wise the cover stocks are almost identical --- the  RUMBLE had a 55M^TM  solid cover (55 grit rating for medium oil) and the DEVOUR has a 54MH^TM solid cover (54 grit rating for medium-heavy oil). 

The layout specs on my DEVOUR (pin above bridge) come out to 55 x 5 x 45. 

The first outing with the DEVOUR was a test run in league = typical wet/dry STL house shot.  But it was in a center that overall plays a little tighter than most around the STL.   The DEVOUR was great through practice and the first half of the first game of league.  It allowed me to go pretty much with the boards in the 9-11 zone and it went through the pins really nicely.  I started the first game with a four-bagger that were a combination of flush pocket hits and even a messenger strike – which is an unusual thing in this center where carry is typically tricky.  Then, for the rest of the first game despite a few hand position changes and some other tricks tried, I had a run of six consecutive flat 10’s.  What caused the difference was carry down created by a high-speed, high-rev player on the opposing team using urethane and crossing through my zone of the lane from left of me.  As the back ends tightened, the DEVOUR just didn’t have enough pop to get through the pins well at all.

I tried using the DEVOUR in our STL Fall Sport League during the quarter we bowled on the PBA Midwest Region’s most recent version of Cheetah.  At box finish with some lane shine and its pin-up layout, my DEVOUR was too angular to be predictable and reliable.  My execution had to be perfect with it.  It afforded me no mistake room.  It was too strong off the spot to be useful out of the gate and even as the pattern transitioned and played tighter its angularity made it too difficult to control the breakpoint.  For me, the combination of Storm’s RIDE and JOYRIDE were more useful.

I haven’t had opportunity to bowl a lot of house shot tournaments this fall since the DEVOUR was released.  I’m hoping that perhaps, with some surface tweaking, it might be the perfect ticket for a few upcoming tourneys in an older wood center here in the STL when most of the field will be using aggressive covers.  If it helps me stay right of them with more closed angles it may help me keep up with younger guys’ high-rev scoring pace 

The DEVOUR would be a great entry level ball for someone looking to upgrade from plastic and, for the right player, it could serve as a good benchmark ball for league.  For me, the jury is still out on just how useful it will end up being.