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DevilDriver

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DevilDriver

DevilDriver is a groove metal band from Santa Barbara, California, USA. Coal Chamber vocalist Dez Fafara was not happy with the direction Coal Chamber was going in musically, and met musicians who had a similar music interest at a barbecue and bar. Fafara, guitarists Evan Pitts and Jeff Kendrick, bassist Jon Miller, and then-guitarist John Boecklin formed Deathride. Due to copyright issues and the name being taken by several bands, Deathride changed its name to DevilDriver, which refers to bells Italian witches used to drive evil forces away.

The band's self-titled album was not well received by some music critics. The primary writer of the album, Pitts, left the band and was replaced by Mike Spreitzer. Their second album, The Fury of Our Maker's Hand received a better reception with critics, and entered the Billboard 200 at number 117. The band embarked on several tours including Ozzfest and a Guinness world record was attempted at the 2007 Download Festival for the "largest circle pit" and again at Download Festival 2009.

Biography

Formation, DevilDriver (2002–2004)

At the age of 15, bassist Jon Miller had formed a band with drummer John Boecklin and guitarist Jeff Kendrick in high school. The band was called Area-51 and played cover versions of Metallica, Slayer, Sepultura and Pantera.[3] Miller, Boecklin and Kendrick met Coal Chamber vocalist Dez Fafara while he was in the process of recording the album Dark Days with Coal Chamber in 2002. The three were playing in a local band and talked to Fafara who said he was thinking about leaving Coal Chamber. Fafara said "Hey you guys write some heavy shit, and I want to get out of Coal Chamber".[4] Fafara hosted several barbecues after moving from Orange County to Santa Barbara and would jam with musicians he met, which lead to the formation of the band.[5] Guitarist Evan Pitts met Fafara in a restaurant and gave him his phone number for a jam session, while John Boecklin who originally played guitar then played drums, met Fafara at a bar.[6]

The band was originally known as Deathride, but later changed their name to DevilDriver because Fafara felt there were too many bands with that name; a band in Norfolk, Virginia, and a bicycle racing team.[7] Another problem was that the band's label, Roadrunner Records were unable to secure copyright.[8] The members compiled a list of roughly two hundred names to go for a more original approach. Fafara's wife had a book by Italian witchcraft author Raven Grimassi on Stregheria, and came across the term 'devil driver'. The term 'devil driver' refers to bells Italian witches used to drive evil forces away. Fafara thought it was appropriate because it sounded "evil", and thought the term "suits his life".[9] The band's logo is the Cross of Confusion, which has existed for thousands of years and refers to "question religion, question authority, question everything around you". Fafara was brought up to "question everything" and was exposed to Italian witchcraft through his grandparents.[6]

DevilDriver's debut record was originally going to be called Thirteen,[10] and then Straight to Hell. However, Fafara claims it was changed "for so many reasons that I can't even go into."[11] The band's self-titled debut DevilDriver, was released on October 23, 2003 under Roadrunner Records, and entered the Top Heatseekers chart at number 117.[12] Guitarist Pitts wrote roughly 90% of the music, according to Mike Spreitzer, who replaced Pitts after his departure from the band.[13] Music critics response to the album was generally negative. Allmusic reviewer Johnny Loftus commented that elements in the songs "Die (And Die Now)" and "Swinging the Dead" redeem an otherwise disappointing album and hoped the band would focus less on the mainstream.[14]

The Fury of Our Maker's Hand (2005–2006)

The band returned to the studio in 2005 to record their follow-up to DevilDriver. The album was produced at Sonic Ranch Studios, a 1,400-acre (5.7 km2) pecan ranch, 200 miles (320 km) away from El Paso, Texas. The band members wanted to be isolated when recording the album so they could solely focus on the music as friends, family, managers and girlfriends would constantly interrupt. Roughly 30 songs were written which were narrowed down to 15 by the band. The 15 songs were then played for producer Colin Richardson who wanted to begin tracking immediately.

The name of the album was thought of by Fafara who believed that The Fury of Our Maker's Hand refers to the "storm" his life has been the past 10 years, "You have your maker's hand and I have my maker's hand and we both living in our fury, the fury of our maker's hand. It explains my life".[15] The album was released on June 28, 2005 and debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number 117, with sales of 10,402 in its first week.[15] The album also debuted at number 1 on the Top Heatseekers chart.[16] Johnny Loftus of Allmusic described the album as "a severe turn away from the falter of their first album" and said that the band made their "true debut the second time around".[17] Dom Lawson of Kerrang! gave the album a positive review describing the album as a "fresh and exhilarating approach to modern metal".[18]

The band toured extensively in support of the album, which included shows in the United States, Europe, and Australia in support of bands such as In Flames, Fear Factory, and Machine Head. The band played for the first time as a headliner in the Burning Daylight Tour. On October 31, 2006, The Fury of Our Maker's Hand was re-released to include three new studio tracks, including "Digging up the Corpses" which was featured on the soundtrack to Resident Evil: Apocalypse. The release also contained three live recordings of previously released, a DVD of all of the band's music videos, new cover art, and inside liner notes.[19]

The Last Kind Words (2007–2008)

DevilDriver Live at Wolverhampton Civic Hall in 2007

The band reunited at Sonic Ranch Studios while they recorded their third studio effort, The Last Kind Words, which was released in June 2007. The album's first single "Not All Who Wander Are Lost" was directed by Nathan Cox for free. Cox's career began when he created Coal Chamber's music video "Loco", so he re-paid a favor to Fafara and the band. Cox now directs music videos for bands such as Linkin Park and Korn.[20] The first song to be previewed was "Horn of Betrayal" which debuted on Sirius Satellite's Hard Attack channel on May 16, 2007. The Last Kind Words entered the German charts at number 92,[21] and peaked at number 48 on the Billboard 200,[12] with over 14,000 copies sold.[22]

DevilDriver promoted the album at the 2007 Download Festival at Donington alongside headliners Linkin Park, Iron Maiden, and My Chemical Romance. A Guinness world record was attempted by the band for the "largest circle pit" at the festival. Guinness responded to the query and denied the request stating they receive over 60,000 requests a year and there is no way to physically define where a circle pit starts and ends. They considered the proposal fully in the context of the subject area and stated that "our decision is final in this matter".[23][24] The band also appeared at 2007's Ozzfest. Fafara had been planning to take his first six weeks off in 11 years, but Sharon Osbourne, who had managed Fafara's previous band Coal Chamber, persuaded him to appear.[20] At a concert in Detroit, Michigan, a recording was made with the intention of releasing a live DVD in 2008[13] although this has yet to be released.

DevilDriver's songs "Devil's Son" and "Driving Down the Darkness" were featured in the TV show Scrubs[25], and in 2008 they covered the Iron Maiden song "Wasted Years" for the Kerrang! compilation Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden. The song "Clouds Over California" became available as a download for the music video game, Rock Band.

Pray for Villains (2009-Present)

DevilDriver has now finished their fourth studio album entitled Pray for Villains. As of the 21st of February, the band is in Australia touring the Soundwave Festival with bands such as Lamb of God and In Flames. When they finished their Sydney show, they announced that the new album would be released July 14th 2009. They have finished mixing, mastering and recording the album, and the album has leaked. They will also do a round of shows with Slipknot in the Midwest states in mid-May with 3 Inches of Blood and All That Remains in rotation. Devildriver has released their artwork for their new album "Pray for Villains" on their website. DevilDriver has released the title track from "Pray for Villains" on May 21st. DevilDriver have recently announced a European Tour with several other bands such as Behemoth and Suicide Silence

Influences

Miller's influences include Metallica, Opeth, Slayer and In Flames, and states that many of the bands he tours with influences his songwriting.[3] Fafara's influences include Johnny Cash, and Motörhead, stating he likes people with "low voices".[7] Members of DevilDriver can be seen on Machine Head's 'Elegies' DVD citing Machine Head as an influence. Boecklin's inspiration to pick up his drumsticks came from listening to Metallica's ...And Justice For All. Primus and Ministry.[26]

Members

Dez Fafara live at the Hellfest Summer Open Air.

Former members

Discography

Studio albums
EPs

References

  1. ^ Fury review at Metal Observer
  2. ^ DevilDriver at NME
  3. ^ a b Lumpkin, Sharita. "DevilDriver interview with Jon Miller". fourteeng.net. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  4. ^ Moskowitz, Shayna (2006-02-04). "DevilDriver: Interview with Jon Miller". unratedmagazine.com. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  5. ^ "Blasting-zone Interview with Dez Fafara". blasting-zone.com. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
  6. ^ a b Loutsch, Travis. "Metal-Update interview with Dez Fafara". Metal-update.com. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
  7. ^ a b Katrina (2005-08-12). "Interview with Dez Farfara of DevilDriver". Metal-temple.com. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  8. ^ "Interview with DevilDriver". truepunk.com. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  9. ^ Kirshne, Matthew. "Tartarean Desire WEbzine". tartareandesire.com. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  10. ^ "Deathride Change Name To DevilDriver". Blabbermouth.net. 2006-06-23. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  11. ^ "DevilDriver No Longer Going 'Straight To Hell'". Blabbermouth.net. 2003-08-09. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
  12. ^ a b "Artist Chart History". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
  13. ^ a b Morgan, Anthony. ""Tirades of Truth" - DevilDriver guitarist Mike Spreitzer". lucemfero.com. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
  14. ^ Loftus, Johnny. "DevilDriver album review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  15. ^ a b "Soundscan report DevilDriver" Blabbermouth.net, (July 6, 2005). Retrieved on November 11, 2007
  16. ^ "Top Heatseekers - The Fury Of Our Maker's Hand". Billboard.com. 2005-07-16. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  17. ^ Loftus, Johnny. "The Fury of Our Maker's Hand - Allmusic review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  18. ^ "Kerrang DevilDriver Review Scan". Kerrang!. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
  19. ^ Roya (2005-07-26). "An Interview with Devildriver Frontman Dez Fafara". Metal-Underground.com. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  20. ^ a b "DevilDriver Vocalist Dez Fafara". Metal-rules.com. 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  21. ^ "DevilDriver: 'The Last Kind Words' Enters German Chart At No. 92". Blabbermouth.net. 2007-06-29. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
  22. ^ "Korn, DevilDriver, Entombed, Five Finger Death Punch First-Week Sales Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  23. ^ "DevilDriver Attempts 'Largest Circle Pit' GUINESS Record; Video Available". Blabbermouth.net. 2007-06-13. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
  24. ^ Bruce Wayne. "DevilDriver @ Download 2007". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
  25. ^ "Interview with Devildriver's John Boecklin". Metal-Underground.com. 2006-06-17. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
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