DevilDriver guitarist Mike Spreitzer says the band are likely to start recording their seventh album towards the end of the year.
He reports drummer John Boecklin has written at least three tracks for what will be the follow-up to acclaimed record Winter Kills – but he doesn’t feel they’re under any pressure to better last year’s release.
Spreitzer tells Dublin Concerts: “We’ve already started writing. I know Boecklin has a bunch of songs; I haven’t had a lot of time to write because I just moved into a new house and I’ve been building a studio in my garage.
“We have July and August off so I’m going to spend that time writing. Boecklin’s already got somewhere between three and five songs written and a tentative date for recording of November, December, which means the record will probably be out sometime next summer.”
The band and many fans have spoken of Winter Kills as one of DevilDriver’s best studio outings ever – but Spreitzer doesn’t think that adds a weight of expectation to their next project.
He says: “The only thing I feel pressure about is not repeating ourselves too much. I see things from a different perspective than our fans – there’s a different vibe for every record for me.”
And their cover of Awolnation track Sail has opened up new possibilities in their songwriting, he thinks. “I can have more atmospheric tones meshed with brutal guitars,” he says, “whereas before I kind of stayed away from that. I didn’t know if DevilDriver fans would be into something like that – but they obviously are.”