DEVILDRIVER Recruits Former BURN HALO Guitarist NEAL TIEMANN

California metallers DEVILDRIVER have announced the addition of guitarist Neal Tiemann (BURN HALO) to the group's ranks. Tiemann joins the band as the replacement for Jeff Kendrick, who left DEVILDRIVER last October.

According to DEVILDRIVER singer Dez Fafara, eleven songs have already been written for the band's next album, which will arrive sometime in 2016. The CD will mark DEVILDRIVER's first studio effort since the departures of Kendrick and drummer John Boecklin and addition of Tiemann and former CHIMAIRA sticksman Austin D'Amond.

Asked what makes Austin the right drummer for DEVILDRIVER, Dez told Full Metal Jackie: "What made him the right guy is he's more than capable.

"You can understand when members leave a band, and Jeff, the guitar player, left 'cause he just didn't wanna tour anymore, and I totally understood that after the schedule we kept for almost 13 years. And John wanted to try and do some stuff on his own, and it was more than okay with me after that length of time. So, when you do replace members, what you wanna do is you wanna get people who are more than capable — or more capable than even who you had [before]."

He continued: "I definitely am looking forward to playing with Austin. He's a great guy, he's a great drummer, [and] he's got an incredible stage presence. And when he came in for the audition, he absolutely just smoked it. He's just an incredible guy. And you get a real good vibe from him, which is another thing. We're gonna tour a lot, so you're gonna have to have that."

Boecklin and Kendrick played their last show with DEVILDRIVER as part of the 2014 Knotfest in Devore, California.

DEVILDRIVER's latest album, "Winter Kills", sold around 11,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 32 on The Billboard 200 chart.