DevilDriver is a veteran metal band, but its members’ personal taste in music reaches far beyond heavy music. As first teased by frontman Dez Fafara last year, the band’s upcoming full-length album of outlaw country-gone-metal anthems, “Outlaws ‘Til the End,” finally will see its day. The collection of metal interpretations will be released via Napalm Records on July 6, and pre-orders are available now in multiple formats via http://smarturl.it/OutlawsTilTheEnd-NPR with more format options coming soon. Merchandisem such as T-shirts, long-sleeve shirts, flasks, keychains and more, is available here: www.indiemerch.com/devildriver/pre-orders.
Hear a clip of DevilDriver’s cover of Hank3’s “Country Heroes,” featuring Hank3 himself, below.
“I think real music has always gotten to me, whether it’s the blues or even real Goth music like Bauhaus and Sisters Of Mercy, as well as outlaw country greats like Johnny Cash, Wayne ‘The Train’ Hancock and Willie Nelson,” Fafara said. “That stuff has always attracted me, and this is absolutely the real McCoy. The blues and outlaw country are what made rock n’ roll. They were around before rock ‘n’ roll … and in my head, I’ve always heard these songs heavy.”
“Outlaws ‘Til the End” was produced, mixed and recorded with Steve Evetts (Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, Sepultura, The Cure), with DevilDriver guitarist Mike Sprietzer also lending recording talents. The album was mastered by engineer Alan Douches.
Completing this project is a host of metal and country luminaries providing cameos: horror metal icon Wednesday13 lends his incensed rasp to George Jones’ “If Drinking Don’t Kill Me,” 36 Crazyfists frontman Brock Lindow brings fire and soul to Steve Earle’s, “Copperhead Road,” and Fear Factory’s Burton C. Bell helps to turn Richard Thompson’s anti-war classic “Dad’s Gonna Kill Me” into a brooding gothic metal extravaganza. Meanwhile, Lamb of God members Randy Blythe and Mark Morton contribute to a decimation of Willie Nelson’s “Whiskey River” before Randy makes a second appearance on the cowboy standard “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” the latter featuring the son of Johnny Cash.
“Outlaws ‘Til the End” track listing:
1. “Country Heroes”
Written by Hank Williams III
Performed by Hank3 & Dez Fafara
2. “Whiskey River”
Written by Johnny Bush and Paul Stroud; recorded by Willie Nelson
Performed by Randy Blythe, Mark Morton of Lamb of God & Dez Fafara
3. “Outlaw Man”
Written by David Blue; recorded by the Eagles
Performed by Dez Fafara & Neal Tiemann of DevilDriver
4. “Ghost Riders in the Sky”
Written by Stan Jones
Performed by John Carter Cash, Ana Cristina Cash, Randy Blythe & Dez Fafara
5. “I’m the Only Hell (Mama Ever Raised)”
Written by Bobby Bobby Borchers, Wayne Kemp, Mack Vickery; recorded by Johnny Paycheck
Performed by Dez Fafara & DevilDriver
6. “If Drinking Don’t Kill Me (Her Memory Will)”
Written by Harlan Sanders, Rick Beresford; recorded by George Jones
Performed by Wednesday 13 & Dez Fafara
7. “The Man Comes Around”
Written by Johnny Cash
Performed by Lee Ving of Fear & Dez Fafara
8. “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere”
Written by Dwight Yoakam
Performed by Dez Fafara & Neal Tiemann of DevilDriver
9. “Copperhead Road”
Written by Steve Earle
Performed by Brock Lindow of 36 Crazyfists & Dez Fafara
10. “Dad’s Gonna Kill Me”
Written by Richard Thompson
Performed by Burton C. Bell of Fear Factory & Dez Fafara
11. “A Country Boy Can Survive”
Written by Hank Williams Jr.
Performed by Dez Fafara & DevilDriver
12. “The Ride”
Written by J.B. Detterline Jr., Gary Gentry; recorded by David Allan Coe
Performed by Lee Ving of Fear & Dez Fafara
“I knew right away that I wanted to have guests on this record, and the first guest I wanted was John Carter Cash,” Fafara said. “I didn’t want this thing to exist without John, without Hank3 or without Randy [Blythe]. Basically, there were a certain amount of guests that I definitely wanted on it, but as I kept asking people, everyone kept saying yes! Randy and Mark [Morton] are both from the country, and they were immediately on board. With John, we wound up talking for two hours when we first met, all about his love of heavy metal and my love of outlaw country and my love of his dad’s music. All he wanted to do was talk about metal and all I wanted to do was talk about outlaw country. It was the craziest thing.”
Not only just content with a collaboration with John Carter Cash, the album also features the iconic voice of Fear, U.S. punk rock legend Lee Ving.
“Lee has a country band called Range War, and when he first started in music, his mother gave him her mandolin to play, so he played country music before he ever did punk rock,” Fafara said. “I’ve been fortunate enough in my career to do songs with Ozzy and some of the greats, but doing a song with Lee Ving? What can I say … He’s my ultimate hero in life. I had a Fear shirt on the first time I ran away from home, you know?”
Stay tuned for more new music and videos coming soon in anticipation of “Outlaws ‘Til the End.”
Upcoming DevilDriver performances:
7/12 – Oshkosh, WI @ Rock USA
7/15 – Mansfield, OH @ The World-Famous Historic Ohio State Reformatory, Home of the “Shawshank Prison” — INKCARCERATION Music and Tattoo Festival
DevilDriver online:
www.devildriver.com
www.facebook.com/devildriver
www.twitter.com/devildriver
www.instagram.com/devildriver
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