All about Online Classified

Anyone who owns a DevilDriver merch and album would probably categorize the band’s music as heavy metal. Music critics however are not entirely sure what sub genre best fits the group. Listening to songs in different albums can give you a feeling of death metal hitting groove.

The mixed opinions about what the band really sounds like are perhaps signs of their difficult origins. Right up to before the group was formed, each of its members were variously occupied. Dez Fafara was still with Coal Chamber when he toyed with the idea of forming a new band. Jon Miller, Jeff Kendrick and John Boecklin who would soon also join forces with Fafara were already a band before Boecklin met Fafara. Fafara met the final member of the group, Evan Pitts on a separate occasion. They all became official band mates in 2002.

The group’s name was originally Deathride but it was deemed too unoriginal. Band members settled on their new name because it sounded sinister enough. The term however is actually refer to Italian bells used to drive evil elements away. The band also adopted the cross of confusion as their logo, a symbol that meant there was a need to question existing institutions. The group’s symbolisms stem mainly from Fafara’s own personal background and history, having had Italian influences and having been raised to question everything.

Listening to each DevilDriver CD will give you mixed experiences. What possibly stands out among all their albums however is the first one which is also their self-titled release. Critics are not overly fond of this piece of work and think that it is a sort of compromise because of the group’s desire to break into the mainstream. This is despite the fact that fans have started patronizing goth clothing in honor of the group. After this rocky start, Pitts left the group and Mike Spreitzer came in.

Apparently though, the only thing difficult for the group was the start. Their second release The Fury of Our Maker’s Hand which came out in 2005 was met more favorably. This was proven by the fact that the album settled on the 117th slot in the Billboard 200. The album, which was recorded in a nearly isolated location, is so good that some tend to forget that there was ever a first one before it. Like the first release, this second one touches on elements of Fafara’s life.

The second album put the band on a roll and they released The Last Kind Words. They promoted their work in the Download Festival where music legends like Iron Maiden were also in attendance. In 2009, more success came for the group when Pray for Villains took number 35 in the Billboard 200. This got the band even more pumped up for work and led them to make more plans for 2010. Another album has been set for release. Although there might be shifts again in the band’s musical approach, listeners can only tell for certain once the work has been released. Fafara has already said though that the fifth release will be different from the other four.

It’s hard to create a strict category for a DevilDriver album. It doesn’t really matter much though. As long as they make relevant music, the fans will continue to listen.