By Danny Contreras
The Dayton, Ohio sextet known as The Devil Wears Prada released their fourth studio album, Dead Throne, on Sept. 4 for online streaming before the anticipated release date of Sept. 13.
TDWP solidified themselves as a serious hardcore act with their 2009 release, With Roots Above and Branches Below, an album that while critically acclaimed, showcased the fact that TDWP could not move away from the more pretentious scene-core. In 2010, however, they release an EP titled Zombies, that truly showed they were willing to break away from the typical harsh vocals to clean vocals formula, and could remain consistent throughout.
Come 2011 and they have broken away from the mold. Taking hints from San Diego compatriots As I Lay Dying, the band produced their heaviest album to date.
The first sign that they broke away from typical hardcore comes in the form of a heavy first track that suddenly begins without any orchestral prelude. The self-titled first track, “Dead Throne,” begins with synths reminiscing the war torn middle ages; the toms marching on as the guitars build up to a heavy drop that sets off the bass grooves. On come the harsh vocals of lead vocalist, complimented by the much faster and drop tuned machine gunning guitars. The synths keep the torturesome atmosphere; Daniel Williams consistently thronging click-blasts fast enough to tire even Ginger Baker (Cream).
The following two songs do not let go, however. “Untidaled” and “Mammoth” sound exactly as they read: massive, scary and relentless. They both contain two clean vocal verses that feel out of place. They cannot distract you, however, from what is going in the background. Especially with guitarists Chris Rubey’s and Jeremy Depoyster’s ability to make simple breakdowns sound so very well composed.
“Vengeance,” the following song, starts off with a fast drum fill that paves the way for note-cut-note guitar work. The clean vocal choruses truly work well in this song, however, because they explain the meaning of the album: fear. “Keep running, keep running away,” a cliché line that TDWP make sound powerful and defines the experience of Dead Throne. More amazing is Andy Trick’s ability to keep up with the guitars with some deep, inter-woven bass patterns that truly compliment Williams and Hranica.
The only weak song in the album is “My Question.” It is too formulaic; too much scene-core. “My questions, unanswered” sung in clean vocals is almost unforgivable given the speed of the previous songs that led to this song. It doesn’t distract the listener though, because “Kansas,” an instrumental interlude, gives the members the chance to redeem themselves by showing off their technical skill.
Furthering the fact that they’re almost a new band, TDWP follows up with “Born to Lose,” the lead single. A song so heavy it almost needs a precaution warning before it begins. It begs to be listened over and over at the expense of your eardrums’ ability to make sound audible and your brain’s capacity to process the rawness of it. But it remains the pearl of the album; a skin-tearing, mosh pit-making behemoth. This is vintage TDWP.
If the album wasn’t loud enough, As I Lay Dying vocalist Tim Lambesis joins Hranica in “Constance.” The track begins on a breakdownesque structure, delivering demonic vocals from Lambesis to dry, vocal chords stressing Hranica. It seems that Lambesis provided some of his writing talents as this song remains the best written track of the album, with layers of meaning hidden behind simple words. If As I Lay Dying and Prada ever make a contributed album, this song is just a sneak peak of what the leading hardcore bands in America can do.
“Pretenders” and “Holfast,” the last two songs, are fast but a little bit forgettable because “Constance” is so powerful. But if these two songs provide anything to the album, it is consistency. Tight drumming and machine gunning guitars cannot be kept up for over an hour, that is an honor bestowed upon the darkest Scandinavian blackened death metal bands; but TDWP truly borrowed from their arsenal as they kept the whole album consistent throughout, truly showcasing their finesse and technical ability.
In a genre where formulaic music is produced, the Devil Wears Prada truly stands out.
It is important to point out the evolution of the band to this point. They have gone from hardcore to post-hardcore (yes, there is a huge difference), and are slowly graduating to a more progressive style; As I Lay Dying did it, and so did Massachusetts quintet Converge. Right now there are at a crossroads: math core or progressive metal. It doesn’t matter; what ever they choose, this album will serve as the missing link between their new genre and their past one.
