DEVIL’S CUT

Country and metal music have been flirting for years, but Kentucky popcore hybrid Devil’s Cut just hits different. On their hugely cathartic and relatable 2026 debut album Roadkill, the Louisville band harnesses anthemic metalcore to authentic country imagery and melody to massive effect.

“We grew up on Tim McGraw and Garth Brooks, but we love Metallica and Pantera,” said Devil’s Cut frontman Trey Landrum. “We’re metal with hints of country, but we’re doing it differently; fucking with it and making it our own.”

The resulting “Mossy Oak metal” is slickly produced, featuring heavy riffs and aggressive, articulate grooves topped by infectious country-twang vocals. Completed by guitarist Zach McConnell, drummer Trap, and bassist Bailey Jones, Devil’s Cut are Southern boys in Dolly and Dale shirts, camo caps, and NASCAR jackets, their online content chocked with chugged beers, muddy trucks and side-by-sides, outdoor ragers, and neon-lit dive bars. This is metal that speaks to rural America and oozes unpretentious regional pride.

Devil’s Cut’s nuanced country-metal mélange began with a 2018 conversation with their manager, Jelly Roll drummer Cody Ash. Fellow Kentuckian Ash was convinced that merging the genres was the future and together they set about convincingly marrying their twin musical passions without compromising either. Devil’s Cut hinted at what was coming with a muscular 2019 cover of Dan + Shay’s country smash “Tequila” and had really found their lane by the time 2022’s “Insomnia” became a TikTok hit. With their sound rapidly evolving and commercial momentum gathering, Devil’s Cut racked up millions of streams while touring with everyone from country/metal chanteuse Royale Lynn to metalcore mainstays Attila, plus adrenalized sets at metal’s flagship mega-fests Aftershock, Welcome To Rockville and Louder Than Life.

Taking a page from the country playbook, Devil’s Cut dramatically raised their game by relocating to Nashville for a month and collaborating with experienced co-writers to spawn the hard-to-resist Roadkill (MNRK Music Group /April 24, 2026). Produced by Evan McKeever (Miranda Lambert, Starset), it delivers rowdy party anthems and heartworn laments with equal aplomb, Landrum’s lived-in timbre distinguished by his innate country cadence and everyman lyrics. Listen carefully and there’s lap steel, mandolin, and banjo in there, but as tastefully morphed, almost subliminal samples that help set Devil’s Cut apart.

“Roadkill is two totally different ends of the spectrum,” laughed Landrum. “Either sad, I-want-to-cry songs or ‘hey man, I want to have a beer and shoot guns in the woods with my friends’!”

As country as it gets / Hundred down a dirt road / Southern born & bred / Reload with my eyes closed implores Landrum on Roadkill’s fist-pumpin’ first single and album opener “Drink With The Devil.” The title track and second single is a TikTok-targeted relationship song that leans into resurgent “dad rock” with a youthful vengeance, while follow-up “Drop Dead (End)” skews industrial like a redneck Rob Zombie. Every Roadkill track will have its own video and Devil’s Cut will be spending much of 2026 on the road, winning yet more fans with their all-in-this-together, put-a-drink-up live show, including a tour with kindred spirits Alborn.