Interview by Kris Peters
While most of us take music on face value and, although maybe appreciating the lyrical content and life experiences that are invested in the lyrics, the vast majority of people do not - or cannot - fathom the entire depth, meaning and personal anguish behind them.
For over three decades Dez Fafara has been writing songs and pouring his heart and soul into each sentence, and even word.
It is a labour of love that has seen his band Devildriver embrace a loyal and growing legion of fans and one which has seen them traverse the world playing everything from festivals to their own headlining shows.
In and around the time of COVID Fafara was forced to take a more in depth look into his inner self for a multitude of reasons, the main of which being the fact he almost lost his life to the virus.
It was a sombre period for Fafara and his family, and one which forced him to take stock of his past, present and future and make the decision to purge his demons the only way he knew how.
Through music.
The result was Dealing With Demons Vol 1 which was released in 2020 it was an honest, introspective and confronting look at some of the things that Fafara has lived with and faced thoughout his entire career, tackled in a way only someone who had stared down his own demise could approach it.
That album was universally hailed as a masterpiece and left the music world eagerly anticipating the second instalment which will be released on May 12 via Napalm Records.
A heavier slab of metal than its predecessor, Dealing With Demons Vol II is another scathing indictment on the mechanism that Fafara has fought to subdue and control throughout his career, and as such is a deeply personal and cathartic album to himself.
The great man sat down with HEAVY to talk about the concluding chapter of his self help manifesto.
"Feeling good, man," he smiled when asked how he was feeling about the release. "It's been sitting in the can for a while. We recorded both of these at the same time, they were meant to come out back to back in 2020 and 2021, but of course things got in the way. That being said it's incredible to be releasing this thing. You can probably attest to the fact with me, and probably agree with me that when a band tackles a double record, usually the second record is B sides and leftovers. I mean, usually - and I could name several that you would probably agree with me - we didn't want that to happen so we overwrote for this thing. Not only that but we kept them short - 36 and 38 minutes respectively - they're meant to be listened back to back, an hour and ten or so in full and it's great to get this piece of art out and actually having people hear it. This is the first time we've had feedback outside of the band. We stayed very secretive about this record. And even internally didn't pass it around to our agents and things like this. We didn't want it to get out."
In the full interview, Dez talks more about the new album and what to expect, how it is heavier to Vol 1, the singles released and how they represent the album, what specific demons he dealt with over the two albums, what he learnt about himself and his music in doing so, how purging those demons will impact his future writing, what's next for Devildriver, touring plans and more.