Dez Fafara – Vocals
Johnny B – Drums
Jeff – Guitar
Evan – Guitar
John – Bass
’devilDriver is the name witches give to the bells they use to drive away evil when casting their spells.
But the DevilDriver we speak of is a band.
DevilDriver is not Dez Fafara’s first band. In fact, the singer has been toiling in the trenches of the music industry since 1994, having sold well over a million albums worldwide, having appeared on nine soundtracks, and having spent countless years on the road playing hundreds of shows.
With DevilDriver, Fafara feels he has reached the point of sonic nirvana, where DevilDriver is the be-all, end-all. With its self-titled debut, DevilDriver exudes abrasive, formidable heavy metal from every pore, culling influence from the blackest of black metal, the deadliest of death metal, as well as the classic heavy metal cannon. Dez Fafara has always stood for heavy music and when others around him would not stand with him, he chose to stand alone. So, it’s time for heavy music (and Fafara’s) fans to focus on the here, on the now, and on the no-holds-barred DevilDriver.
DevilDriver, rounded out by guitarists Evan and Jeff, bassist John, and drummer Johnny B, was conceived in 2001, during the recording process of Dark Days, the third album by Fafara’s other project, Coal Chamber. Fafara had wanted to add girth and heft to his musical output for quite some time. He had been contemplating moving in a fresher, more metallic direction when DevilDriver finally came to fruition. I decided to make a life choice and a musical choice, and that choice was to get heavier and to follow my path more closely with heavy music, admits a candid Fafara, who beams over DevilDriver like a father over his newborn spawn.
I was eating breakfast at a joint here in the small town in California where I live, recalls Fafara. And a guitar player left me a napkin and it read, I hear you are in town, and if you want to jam, call me. Fafara eventually called Evan and the guitarist went to his house, and the pair eventually became good friends. We both knew we wanted to do heavy music, and wanted to do something cutting edge, and something that wasn’t happening now. We wanted to go in a different direction than everyone else. The rest of DevilDriver was assembled in an organic fashion: stolen from other bands around town. Things clicked, and the band, in its embryonic state, spent about a year hanging out and getting to know each other. Fafara knew in his mind and heart that once he finished touring with his other band, he would come off the road and dedicate his energy and mind to DevilDriver full-bore.
My heart was going black in my previous band and I needed a musical and emotional change, Fafara continues. I had to follow my own love and passion, and that’s brutal, extreme music, that doesn’t play itself out to be on the radio or to fit in someone else’s scene.
DevilDriver is twelve songs strong, and was recorded at two different studios with two different producers. The drums and main guitars were recorded with Ross Hogarth at Rumbo, where a little album called Appetite For Destruction was done. The vocals, overdubs, and bass tracks were recorded with Dan Serta at Castle Oaks. It was a positive experience for all involved, and Fafara says, It was gratifying to work with a bunch of wonderful musicians that wanted to do their jobs, where business came before playtime. Fafara even goes as far as to deem the recording experience as heartwarming, since DevilDriver is a cohesive unit, where all the members were present during recording and functioning as a team.
Fafara admits that black, death, and classic heavy metal influences have reared their heads on DevilDriver, and compares his players to no one that he has ever heard. In essence, DevilDriver has formed its own style of rage, darkness, and fury. Songs like ’die (And Die Now), I Could Care Less, and Nothing’s Wrong? could fuel a large nation’s army.
Fafara admits to changing directions with his lyrical perspective. He says. All the songs on the album are like the story of Faust, who sold his soul to the devil. I sold mine for my musical life. I write along those lines. Cry For Me Sky addresses Fafara’s take on his own funeral eulogy. Out of all the songs I’ve written in my lifetime, this would be my eulogy song, while Nothing’s Wrong? is DevilDriver’s take on ’doing what thou will. Fafara says I Could Care Less is about despising people’s grandiose and pompous ways. The corrosive ’die (And Die Now), which is so brutal that you can just see blood, guts, carnage, and flesh hanging from its jaw, is dedicated to the emotion of wishing someone was dead. Everyone has that one person in their life that they wish was gone from the planet, says Fafara. This is my song about that one person. There is a lyrical turn of phrase that says, This is the last great hate song / So die / And die now. Clearly, DevilDriver isn’t masking its emotions or its intentions.
We wanted to avoid everything going on the States, Fafara reiterates. ’do we have a hit radio song? We don’t pander to what radio wants. We want to have a hit record for fans of heavy music. If a song is taken out and becomes successful, okay, great. If not, my middle finger is bigger than ever and I ll stay on tour for another two years! Touring is where DevilDriver fully expects to bring its malicious metal to the masses. The band will be baptized into touring life on the exceptionally hard n heavy The Blackest Of The Black Tour, featuring Morbid Angel, Superjoint Ritual, and Danzig.
DevilDriver just wants its music to be heard. The band just wants to get on stage and kill it every night. This band will tour until the wheels come loose, Fafara says.
Based on what we’ve seen from Dez Fafara in the past, and what he has assembled now, expect an explosion of massive consequence with DevilDriver. The band comes out of the gates with its fangs bared, ready to unleash its musical ferocity on the heavy metal world. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. So either join the DevilDriver party now, or brace yourself in a fetal position, because DevilDriver is coming and you won’t be able to hide from the fallout generated by its self-titled debut.
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