The Devil Wears Prada – The Act

The Devil Wears Prada

The Act

by Brad Pfundheller at 14 December 2019, 8:58 PM

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA is a Christian Metalcore band formed in 2005 in Dayton, Ohio. The band has released seven full length albums over the course of their career with 2019’s “The Act” being the seventh. What they have said was that this album will be a new direction in sound compared to their other past releases, but they have been consistently evolving and shaping their sound for at least the past six years. “The Act” is released courtesy of Solid State Records.

The first track on the album is “Switchblade” and it starts out heavy, but right away you notice Mike Hranica doing more of a singing scream style instead of his usual screams and growls. “Lines of Your Hands” is similar to it in a way, but it begins completely different. “Wave of Youth” begins with a catchy guitar riff, then slows its way down throughout the song but picks up on the bridge and chorus. “Please Say No” starts out very quietly until the vocals enter accompanied by toms in the background. Near the ending the instruments pick back up for a moment then the emotionally driven track comes to an end.

“The Thread” gives me the classic Metalcore vibes from the late 2000’s. Palm mutes and breakdowns are all over this track. It has to probably be my favorite overall on the record. “Isn’t It Strange?” uses synths and pianos in the track and is a little different than the rest of the songs on the record, probably referring to the title of the song but I’m not sure. “Diamond Lost” begins with a catchy introduction from the vocalist and just maintains a relaxing yet on your feet type of vibe throughout the song.  The final track on the record “Spiderhead” is full of blast beats and power chord riffage in the beginning and the song finishes off strong overall.

After listening to “The Act”, there is no doubt that these guys went in a completely different direction than their previous work. You’ll find a lot of different styles in each song on the record but as a whole, it was very well put together. There are parts on the album that will remind you that THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA is still the same band that a lot of people love, myself included; and they have successfully pushed the boundaries on the sound and mixed different genres on this record and still made it work in their own way. Check them out.

Songwriting: 8
Musicianship: 9
Memorability: 9
Production: 9