Top-charting dark groove metal originators DEVILDRIVER will release part one of their highly-anticipated double album, Dealing With Demons I, on its new release date of October 2, 2020 via Napalm Records.
DEVILDRIVER continues to bestow fans with a steady stream of content leading up to the album’s impending release – following up on standout singles “Keep Away From Me”, “Iona” and “Nest Of Vipers” with their most heart-wrenchingly earnest offering to date, “Wishing“.
As Dealing With Demons I explores the purging of a different demon per track, “Wishing” illustrates the theme of loss – more specifically, wishing a loved one would return. The clean vocals sung on “Wishing” mark frontman Dez Fafara’s first in DEVILDRIVER history, harking back to his Goth roots. Influences of Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy and more can be heard in Dez’s brooding vocal delivery on the verses, while a heavy chorus punches with raw emotion as he screams, “wishing you were with me right now!”
The dreamlike official music video for “Wishing” – the band’s most surreal visual yet – places each member of DEVILDRIVER in a nightmarish state, trying to physically reach their loved ones just to have them disappear once they’ve nearly grasped them. Echoing the lyrical themes of the track itself, Dez and his bandmates experience this loss again and again down an eerie rabbit hole, surrounded by faceless beings and distorted imagery.
The footage seen in the “Wishing” video was filmed in separate locations by each band member, with social distancing practiced as a top priority. The finished product was directed by Vicente Cordero/Industrialism Films.
Dealing With Demons I marks the band’s first release of new, original material since 2016’s acclaimed Trust No One. This isn’t just the most vicious DEVILDRIVER material to date, but some of their most lethally memorable too. Produced and engineered by Steve Evetts with additional engineering from guitarist Mike Spreitzer, it’s a triumph of teamwork and tenacity. With new milestones like Dez Fafara’s eerie verses on “Wishing” and the frontman’s first co-authored lyric, Dealing With Demons I ferociously delivers the goods while kicking open several new doors for DEVILDRIVER to power through in the future. From the self-explanatory, explosive opener “Keep Away From Me” to the chilling imagery of “Iona” – both of which held DEVILDRIVER at #1 on the Metal Contraband charts for five weeks straight – this album is powerful evidence that Dez and his band mates have given DEVILDRIVER a volatile, visceral kick in the ass. Demons are getting dealt with in the harshest of manners.
Fans should be prepared for what is to come with the second volume of the double album, which promises to go even harder. This is a two-part acceleration into the future – after witnessing Dealing With Demons I, listeners will be clamoring for the second half!
Pre-Order Dealing With Demons I
