DevilDriver's Musical Manifesto for Harsh Times
by Damien Maurer
DevilDriver, DevilDriver, DevilDriver—say it three times really fast! California-based DevilDriver have unleashed unholy terror on the world with The Last Kind Words, the follow-up album for 2005's release, The Fury of Our Makers Hand, and marks the third release that the thrash and death metal-influenced quintet has released on Roadrunner Records. Singer Dez Fafara, Mike Spreitzer - guitars, Jeff Kendrick - guitars, Jon Miller - bass, and John Boecklin - drums, have written and recorded an album that is going to leave a long-lasting impression on metal fans, plus earn greater respect and the ear of a larger audience like few other bands have been able to do. There are a lot of new bands coming out and a lot of old bands continuing to put out fresh music; few are ever able to put their best effort forward with the synchronicity that the members of DevilDriver have demonstrated with their release.
The hardworking band has been touring relentlessly since the release of their self-titled CD in 2003 and are rarely off the road. While they were on tour with Unearth and Dimmu Borgir this past spring, I interviewed Fafara and John Boecklin about their new CD.
InsideCx: Dez, you once told me that one of the most frustrating things for you as an artist that does not play an instrument is to work with a band that shares a musical vision and can translate your overall vision to great songs.
DF: I am a hell of an arranger and I know if an arrangement is working or not. I know if I like the riff or not, and these guys are real open to that, as well as their being open with me about what they like or don't like lyrically, which is totally killer to me! We bounce stuff off of each other all the time. We may have a killer song but maybe it's not right for DevilDriver, or a great lyric but maybe a word needs to be changed.
JB: It starts off completely separately.
DF: They write individually, then they get together in pairs, then they all get together at Mike's house and demo some stuff, bring it to me, we make changes: arrangements, what we like, what we don't like, what direction are we going to go.
InsideCx: I heard that a lot of this new record was written on the road, backstage areas, on the tour bus and that you were super organized going into the studio.
JB: We spent a lot of time off the road writing, too, but going into the studio we were extremely prepared and really well rehearsed.
DF: No pre-production really on our part when we went in with the producers. They just said, "Let's start recording."
InsideCx: The new music is amazing. You have all stepped it up tenfold. What do you think fans are going to see differently on this record?
JB: We are playing some new stuff live, and I read a post on the Internet that someone said it sounds like our last record on steroids! It's faster, it's more mature.
DF: Heavier, more riffs, more melody. I'm even letting it breathe more vocally to let these guys have their way. It's a ferocious record all the way through, whereas the last record had up and down moments. With this record we have really found our place and direction.
InsideCx: The lyrics are very abstract, but you always have a point or a lesson and it's nice to not hear about politics or war.
DF: It's in there, but you will never know where it is. A lot of my songs are about perseverance, determination and pointing the facts out. I don't like to talk about what they are uniquely. I can't write about castles and dragons and fast cars; it's just not my thing.
