It's been two years since the metal world got a new studio offering from the groove and scream machine known as DevilDriver, and well, today that new offering 'Pray for Villains' hits the physical and digital shelves. "This record is a definition of growth," DevildDriver's Dez Fafara told Noisecreep saying, "the one thing we never want to do is make the same record twice and be stagnate."

'Pray for Villains' is the band's fourth release, a huge pinnacle for any heavy band. The fourth release, traditionally speaking, is where the band tightens their grip on what they have fought for. "DevilDriver has definitely found its place. We've defined who we are; it's clear we don't sound like anyone else and we don't fit into anyone's square peg," Dez explains a choice the band had to make, "We had to decide are we going to go heavier and more inaudible, and try to be brutal or are we going to step back and use all of our resources that we have acquired over the years as a team, and apart from each other, and come together as better song writers."

The band went with the harder route of course, and the result when the band gave the tapes of music over to Dez to begin writing his lyrics and snarl over was of shock. "The music made me really up my ante. It's so hook-y," Des says. "Which I think that's what missing from metal right now, big fat hooks that aren't so clean for the radio."

Some bands begin to tease the idea of slowing down at the fourth album, but not DevilDriver. They've actually gotten faster and more technical. When asked if the band will ever slow down Dez laughed, "That's not gonna happen anytime soon with us. Count on that. We write for ourselves, we write what we love, and we hope that everyone else loves it, too."

A thing that Dez has a love for is western films, which was an inspiration for the blazing opening title track and the hovering owl on the cover. "I have this thing for anti-heroes, guys like Clint Eastwood." Dez explains, "Everybody puts faith in the sheriff in a white suit but often times it's a bad a-- in black who's gotta come in with a shotgun and save the day. That's pretty much what 'Pray for Villains' is about. The album cover as well. In a lot of cultures the owl is either a villain or a hero, so all of those things tie in."

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