Just in time for Valentine’s Day, dark folk artist Amigo The Devil sends his sentiments with a serenading video rendition of ‘Hell And You’, taken from his recently released debut album, ‘Everything Is Fine’.

Inviting you to join him for a solo performance in the grotto behind his house, ATD entices viewers with menacing glances matching the strum of each banjo note as he croons “I’d rot in hell with you if you’d just ask me to.”And, for those lucky enough to have seen ATD perform live, it is easy to imagine hearing the crowd merrily singing along with him as he continues, “I love the shitty things we do together, live with me in this sin forever, Hell and you.”

Amigo The Devil is a strange, hard-to-define entity that hovers like a slightly vengeful ghost around the peripheries of metal, dark folk and Americana, claimed by none but with roots in all three. The work of singer-songwriter born Danny Kiranos has been described as ‘murder folk’ in more than a few places, which is both delightful and apt, since his output camps out at the crossroads of Devil Makes Three, 16 Horsepower and Danzig, while his lyrics concern themselves with murder as often as they do love, libations and self-loathing.

Despite his allegiance with the scene itself, the only real heavy metal influence at work here is in the devilish atmosphere and an overall pit-dark vibe that’s a few shades past Southern gothic and has landed him on line-ups with outright doom bands more than once. It’s a curious position to occupy, but Amigo The Devil and his waitin’-around-to-die music makes it seem natural.

‘Everything Is Fine’ is ATD’s first full-length record, and, despite its down-home, rough-hewn feel, it comes stacked with highfalutin credentials. Produced by Ross Robinson (Korn, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot), its percussive elements shaped by drummer Brad Wilk (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, Prophets Of Rage), and recorded at Valentine Studios on original 70’s-era gear, the album is ultimately a backcountry nightmare, soundtracked by raspy, slightly unhinged vocals and an overall apocalyptic bent.