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DEVILDRIVER Release Outlaw Country Covers Album ‘Outlaws ‘Til The End’
July 6th, 2018

Los Angeles, California-based metal group DevilDriver tentatively issue outlaw country covers full-length studio album Outlaws ‘Til The End in early 2018.

The outing consists of 13 cover tracks originally recorded by outlaw country artists, including Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Johnny Paycheck.

“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,” frontman Dez Fafara commented. “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.”

Production, mixing and recording was handled by Steve Evetts, with the effort featuring guest appearances by almost two dozen musicians, among them Glenn Danzig, guitarist John 5 (Rob Zombie / ex-Marilyn Manson), Lamb Of God members Randy Blythe (vocals) and Mark Morton (guitars), and vocalists Hank Williams III, Ana Cristina Cash (daughter-in-law of Johnny Cash), Lee Ving (Fear), Wednesday 13, Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory), and Brock Lindow (36 Crazyfists).

“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.”

In addition to a collaboration to John Carter Cash, as referenced, Outlaws ‘Til The End also features an appearance from Fear frontman 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 notes. “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?”

The track listing is as follows;

01. ‘Country Heroes’ (Hank Williams III)
02. ‘Whiskey River’ (Willie Nelson)
03. ‘Outlaw Man’ (Eagles)
04. ‘Ghost Riders In The Sky’ (Johnny Cash)
05. ‘I’m The Only Hell Mama Ever Raised’ (Johnny Paycheck)
06. ‘If Drinking Don’t Kill Me’ (George Jones)
07. ‘The Man Comes Around’ (Johnny Cash)
08. ‘A Thousand Miles From Nowhere’ (Dwight Yoakam)
09. ‘Copperhead Road’ (Steve Earle)
10. ‘Dad’s Gonna Kill Me’ (Richard Thompson)
11. ‘A Country Boy Can Survive’ (Hank Williams Jr.)
12. ‘The Ride’ (David Allan Coe)

DevilDriver’s line-up is as follows:

Dez Fafara (vocals)
Mike Spreitzer (guitar)
Neal Tiemann (guitar)
Diego Ibarra (bass)
Austin D’Amond (drums)

A music video was filmed for the track ‘Ghost Riders In The Sky’.

In addition, an official lyric video was created for the track ‘Country Heroes’. “This record would not have meant as much to me without having Hank3 on board,” said Fafara. “He is one of the most authentic and real outlaw country artists out there right now. I chose to record ‘Country Heroes’ because the lyrics are extremely well-written, and using the names of all the outlaws within the song really does the song justice. ‘I’m drinking some George Jones and little bit a Coe…’ etc., that is genius writing from Hank3 and should be recognized as such.

“I’ve heard this song as ‘heavy’ in my head for a very long time, so to re-track it and have Hank3 appear only to sing almost Ozzy-ish is just an over the top treat to the ears! Enjoy.”

And as well, an official lyric video was created for the song ‘Copperhead Road’.

All three clips can be viewed below.

Seventh studio record Trust No One was released in May 2016 via Napalm.