Death metal meets outlaw country

It was an interesting choice for Devildriver to pay homage to their country and blues influences by creating an album entirely of covers. If anything, this exposes newer generations of listeners to classics such as “Whiskey River” and “Ghostriders in the Sky” with their own healthy dose of flair added into the mix. The concept is interesting enough, and the intent was clear, but the execution seems lacking.

The album itself is fun, and the band most assuredly had a great time recording it, but in many aspects, it is simply too over the top to be taken seriously. The sliver of personality that usually shines through in a cover song is nowhere to be found in any of the tracks and not enough of the bands personality shone through to really justify their approach. However, there is much respect to the band for putting the first volume of “Outlaws ‘Til The End” together in the first place. Though the execution was not as good as the band is capable of producing, it is still an interesting listen and a deeper view of the influences that made Devildriver so prominent in the first place.

From Willie Nelson to Dwight Yoakam, there are many country greats represented but one of the most well executed is their rendition of “The Man Comes Around” by Johnny Cash. All of the anger and hurt that he dealt with while he was living and he sang about in his material is the perfect medium for a metal translation, and it sounds remarkably like something Mr. Cash would have done himself had he been a part of this generation and not a former one.

As a whole, the album is worth a listen. It is interesting to see the influences of a band such as Devildriver come out in such a fashion as a cover album dedicated to them. It was a bold choice to stray so far from the original in many cases, but a choice that should be respected as the will to do what one wants without fear of other’s opinions is the root of what metal is.