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Devyce,
original heavy groove rock written and performed by 4 talented
individuals, each with their own style. The old saying of "the whole
is greater than the sum of its parts", rang very true with Devyce.
Each member had their own unique musical personality, but the 4
members together created a nearly unstoppable force to be reckoned
with on the heavy music scene from 2002 until the end of 2003.
But that force stopped and exited the North Carolina scene just as
quick as the band busted into the scene. Many have questioned
"why"... well here's a short synopsis of the band's
history and why things happened the way that they did.
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The Origin |
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 Devyce
was formed from the ashes of Deadstroke, a prominent band in
the local NC scene, which split up in mid-2000. Deadstroke
members Dustin Askew & Jeff Hodges brought in Glen Stewart &
Josh Collier to form a brand new lineup. Glen was fresh out of
another prominent local band, Strangelust... while Josh came
in new to the whole music scene. Dustin already had rewritten
nearly an album's worth of material with new arrangements &
lyrics, and the band also worked on brand new music to
showcase the talents of each member involved. The band
released their 6 song debut EP "Slowers" in May of 2002, and
the disc has moved over 500 copies since. After establishing
the band's sound and getting the Devyce name out with shows at
various venues within the North Carolina area, drummer Jeff
Hodges left the lineup. Jeff's commitment to another band in
the local scene (6x9) kept him from fully focusing on Devyce.
The band's drive to succeed would not be denied however and
they were about to embark on an intense search for a suitable
replacement drummer. |
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The Rise |
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 That
intense search never got started. One of the first few phone
calls that the band made was to a very highly regarded
technical drummer by the name of Robbie Mercer. Robbie had cut
his teeth playing in numerous speed, thrash, & death metal
bands within the North Carolina area such as Grimlock,
Nocturnal Fear, Ascendancy, and others. The audition was setup
and Robbie Mercer was quickly offered the opportunity to join
Devyce.
Shortly after the band was back out on the local NC club
circuit in late 2002... differences within the band surfaced
and original vocalist Josh Collier bowed out of the lineup.
The band quickly auditioned new frontmen to fill the vacant
vocalist spot and that voice was found in Gary Fultz, from
Goldsboro NC. Gary brought years of experience to the band
coming from some of the top metal bands in the Florida area.
Gary was also a very good public relations manager and quickly
started booking the band throughout the North Carolina, South
Carolina & Virginia areas. |
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The "Blessed Hellride" |
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 Over
the next 9 months from March to November of 2003, Devyce went
on to play more than 50 shows throughout the states of NC, SC
& VA. It was not uncommon for the band to play one
Friday night deep in South Carolina and then trek 6 hours or
more for a show in another state on Saturday night. The
band went on to open shows for such national acts as Memento,
Throttlerod , Switched & NonPoint. Some of the most
memorable times during this period came from the friendships
that the band either had or created with other regional acts
such as Non-Theory, Automag, Spade, Sorrow Valley, Sourmouth,
6x9, Aggression Therapy, Deleveled, and numerous others.
If the constant touring wasn't enough, the band also began
recording a full length 13 song album. Devyce also
received a sponsorship from Jagermeister, which was reserved
for hard working & hard touring local & regional acts.
From the outside, it seemed that things were really picking up
for the band... |
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The Fall |
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So why would a
band who looked to be on the verge of taking it to the next
level just crumble seemingly overnight? The "Hellride"
mentioned in the previous paragraph pretty much explains it
all. Factor in members of the band working full-time
jobs over 40 hours per week, then jumping in a van with no AC
on Friday afternoon and not getting any sleep or rest until
that van came back home on Sunday evening. On top of
that the band was working hard on a CD during every other free
minute. The band basically spent 9 months away from
home, friends & family and somewhere along that line the
passion for the music changed. When you stay gone each
weekend in a different club, you learn things about the
regional scene that you didn't really know existed. The
constant partying, the backstabbing bullshit amongst clubs &
other bands, and the inner troubles that are naturally created
when 4 guys spend a bit too much time around each other had
all taken its toll. Devyce played its final show at home
at The 19th Hole in Rocky Mount, NC to a killer crowd response
in which few people knew that it was the last time they would
ever see the band in a live setting again. |
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The Aftermath |
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Will there ever
be another Devyce show??? All we can say is possibly...
Currently each member of Devyce is involved in other projects,
but the possibility still exists for either a few reunion
shows or even a full reformation of the lineup. We'll
let you know when (and if) it ever happens. The other
question that gets asked to us is, "What about the CD?"...
well its basically ready to go and if the band ever returns, a
full length CD will be in hand. |
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TO EVERYONE THAT
SAW THE BAND LIVE, WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT
TO OUR FRIENDS IN OTHER BANDS, KEEP THE FAITH BRUTHAS
TO OUR FAMILIES... ITS GOOD TO BE BACK HOME |
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