Devil You Know are less than a month away from their first-ever headlining tour, dubbed "Make America Metal Again." As the metalcore outfit prepares to hit the road, they'll be doing so without their drummer John Sankey behind the kit. In his temporary absence, they've added former DevilDriver skinsman John Boecklin.

Boecklin manned the sticks on six of DevilDriver's studio albums from the eponymous debut in 2003 through 2013's Winter Kills. He's excited to hit the road and get onstage with Devil You Know as regular drummer John Sankey will remain at home in Australia to work on putting together a national festival of which he is ambassador and co-founder. He issued a statement through Devil You Know's Facebook page explaining everything and giving a resounding seal of approval for Boecklin:

G'day folks, I will be sitting out our upcoming US headline tour due to commitments I have in Australia as Ambassador and Co-Founder of the Legion Music Fest taking place in January 2017. It sux to miss playing these shows but being part of planning and overseeing the launch of a national music festival is an enormous task which requires all of my time and dedication right now. Unfortunately Dave Grohl isn't available to fill in, but don't fear, my good buddy and drummer extraordinaire John Boecklin will be hitting the road with Hojo, Fran and Womby to rock the kit for you all each night... F#%k yea! I'll be back from the land down under to rejoin my DYK Brothers for our tour with the mighty Hatebreed and Devildriver in May/June. See ya all on the road then... Cheers.
Sankey m/

While Boecklin has been busy with other projects, he relished the opportunity to play with Devil You Know, stating, "Being a fan of DYK and its members individually, I'm beyond honored to fill in for John Sankey. Having been working on my management career and new musical project, this will be great opportunity for me to take a break and have some fun playing on stage again. I look forward to seeing friends and representing DYK behind the kit, so come on out these shows and support this heavy ass band." [via The PRP]

Painted Wives is Boecklin's latest musical project and they recently inked a record deal with Century Media. The drummer recently announced the news on Facebook (post below) along with a lyric video for the song "Hollow Bones."

For a list of "Make America Metal Again" dates, head to our 2016 Guide to Rock + Metal Tours. The band will be out supporting their sophomore record, They Bleed Red, which was released last year on Nuclear Blast.

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