MTV News has issued the following report from Chris Harris and Jon Wiederhorn:

DEVILDRIVER's first two albums, 2003's self-titled LP and 2005's The Fury Of Our Maker's Hand, combined the savagery of classic thrash and death metal with some modern musical touches. More importantly, the discs established frontman Dez Fafara (ex-COAL CHAMBER) as more than a casualty of the nü-metal movement. At times, however, the records seemed a bit too much like apologies for a misguided past. Well, Fafara is done apologizing. DevilDriver's new disc, The Last Kind Words (out June 5th), is a scathing declaration of war to anyone who continues to deny the band's importance.

"The 'last kind words' could be 'f--- you' before complete annihilation," Fafara said. "For me, this album is about being motivated to stand up to the punishment of being a human and to have the character in you to go on when all people want to do is hold you down."

Even so, the album isn't just a tirade of hostility. Lyrically, Fafara also aims to be constructive, addressing the importance of living in the moment ('Not All Who Wander Are Lost'), band solidarity ('Bound By The Moon') and moving on after the ugly demise of friendship ('Clouds Over California').

"Lyrically, it's dark and foreboding," Fafara said. "But it's gonna give you inspiration to go through this earthly experience and keep kicking."

As insightful as the best lyrics are, it's the band's musical evolution that makes The Last Kind Words truly exceptional. Like DevilDriver's other albums, this one is filled with jackhammer beats, chainsaw riffs and demonic roars, but the compositions are more complex and progressive, interlaced with melodic and textural nuances and stunning rhythmic variation.

"I think we knew we had to reach within ourselves as a team and pull something out that was really different," Fafara said. "Everyone totally put aside their egos and stepped up to the plate to do what needed to be done. In America right now, there's so much of that sing-songy metal going on, so we knew if we did something totally balls-out it was going to be well-received."

As if intuitively sensing that they needed extra time to make album number three eclipse their first two discs, guitarists Mike Spreitzer, Jeffrey Kendrick and bassist Jon Miller started writing riffs immediately after the completion of The Fury Of Our Maker's Hand. Song parts were finessed on the road and then everything was assembled in the rehearsal room. By the time DevilDriver entered the studio on November 13th with Jason Suecof (TRIVIUM, CHIMAIRA), they were ready to hit "record."

"There was literally no preproduction to be done," Fafara said. "Jason said, 'Wow man, these are ready to go.' And everyone didn't just stick to his instrument either. The guys switched guitars and basses a lot — whatever was best for the song. Sometimes, if some guy writes a song, he may not be the best person to track it, and he's gotta be able to give that up to someone else. And when you see that happen with no fights, that's an amazing thing."

The only moments of tension came from working with Suecof, who Fafara described as "a total wing nut."

"We couldn't be more polar opposite, and I had to tell him to shut the f--- up so many times," Fafara recalled. "We actually got into it about two or three times where he would criticize something and I would just be like, 'You suck, you've got no groove.' But the friction worked and we actually came out of it the best of friends. More importantly, he really captured this band, and now I feel like it would be hard to work with anyone else."

There's no question that Suecof and his bandmates played a major role in making The Last Kind Words the most impacting DevilDriver disc to date. However, it was Fafara's clear focus and refusal to compromise that really drove DevilDriver to new heights.

"Years ago I used to think about commerce as an artist, but now I'm just thinking of pure art," he said. "So hopefully what we put out is going to be a kick in the face to what's going on in metal right now. That's the most important goal."