by DevilDriver is one of those bands that you can’t ignore, and I’m not just talking about us metalheads. The band has developed a sound that is so close to mainstream, active rock radio, but it has an edge, a heaviness, a brutality that will never put it on your local radio station. So, when I say that it’s not just metalheads who can’t ignore this band, I’m also talking about those passive fucks who think they’re hard because they got a tattoo and won tickets to a metal fest, because I can’t imagine Godsmack fans not getting into DevilDriver.
Basically, DevilDriver manages to successfully walk a very fine line. A lot of what keeps them on the legitimate side of heavy metal has to do with vocalist Dez Fafara and his gruff singing style. Hard to believe that he was in Coal Chamber.
But, in 2002, Dez left Coal Chamber to join DevilDriver, then known as Deathride. Dez pushed for the name change, which Roadrunner Records was unable to acquire anyways. Prior to meeting Dez, 15-year-old bassist Jon Miller, drummer John Boechklin, and guitarist Jeff Kendrick formed a high school band called Area-51, playing thrash covers from giants like Metallica, Slayer, and Pantera. Clearly, at such an early age, these influences would serve as the basis for the heavy grooves found in DevilDriver.
Today, DevilDriver consists of members Dez Fafara (vocals), Mike Spreitzer (guitar), Jeff Kendrick (guitar), John Boecklin (drums), and Chris Towning (bass). The band is six studio albums deep, releasing their latest, Winter Kills, in August 2013.
Leading up to the release of Winter Kills, DevilDriver was on tour, which included a stop at the Wacken Open Air Festival in Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany. Check out the video above to experience the show yourself. The sound is a bit sketchy at first, but it clears up.
DevilDriver at Wacken Open Air, 2013, Set List:
1. End of the Line
2. Cry for Me Sky (Eulogy of the Scorned)
3. Dead to Rights
4. Ruthless
5. These Fighting Words
6. It’s in the Cards
7. Not All Who Wander Are Lost
8. The Appetite
9. Before the Hangman’s Noose
10. I Could Care Less
11. Head on to Heartache (Let Them Rot)
12. Clouds Over California
13. Hold Back the Day
14. Meet the Wretched
Yell! Magazine’s Concert Series brings you kick-ass live shows to get your party started right and to help you vent your Friday frustrations.
Rock Hard \m/
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