DevilDriver is an American heavy metal band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 2002. The band was originally named Deathride, however, due to copyright issues and the name being taken by several bands, Deathride changed its name to DevilDriver, which refers to bells Italian Wiccans used to drive evil forces away.

The band's self-titled album was not well received by some music critics. Their second album, The Fury of Our Maker's Hand received a better reception with critics, and entered the Billboard 200 at number 117.

At the age of fifteen, bassist Jon Miller had formed a band with drummer John Boecklin and guitarist Jeff Kendrick in high school. The band was called Area-51 and played cover versions of Metallica, Slayer, and Pantera. Miller, Boecklin and Kendrick met Coal Chamber vocalist Dez Fafara while he was in the process of recording the album Dark Days with Coal Chamber in 2002. The three were playing in a local band and talked to Fafara who said he was thinking about leaving Coal Chamber. Fafara said "Hey you guys write some heavy shit, and I want to get out of Coal Chamber". Fafara hosted several barbecues after moving from Orange County to Santa Barbara and would jam with musicians he met, which led to the formation of the band. Guitarist Evan Pitts met Fafara in a restaurant and gave him his phone number for a jam session, while John Boecklin who originally played guitar then played drums, met Fafara at a bar.

Bradley James 'Dez' Fafara (born May 12, 1966) is the current vocalist for DevilDriver and the recently reformed Coal Chamber.

Dez is of Portuguese and Italian, specifically Sicilian descent. His father, Tiger Fafara, was a child actor on the Leave It to Beaver sitcom, playing the character "Tooey Brown."

Dez's wife is named Anahstasia, and she appears on the cover of the second Coal Chamber album Chamber Music. Dez has three sons: Tyler, Simon and Kaleb. "Tyler's Song", from the album Chamber Music, was written for Tyler. Simon, age twelve, added backing growls on DevilDriver's third album, The Last Kind Words (2007), on the song "Tirades Of Truth", during the last two lines of the chorus.

Dez released a total of 3 albums with Coal Chamber. Three of the albums, Coal Chamber (1997), which went gold, Chamber Music (1999), and Dark Days (2002), consisted of new material. An album of remixes, rarities, and b-sides, titled Giving the Devil His Due (2003) and a "Best Of" (2004) were also released. Coal Chamber disbanded in 2003, shortly after Dez formed his current band DevilDriver.