Album Review: The Devil Wears Prada – The Act (Solid State Records)

The Devil Wears Prada will drop their new album The Act on October 11th 2019 via Solid State Records.

The Devil Wears Prada consistently chooses to both challenge themselves and the world around them. The group—Mike Hranica [vocals], Jeremy DePoyster [vocals, guitar], Andy Trick [bass], Kyle Sipress [guitar], Jonathan Gering [keys, synthesizers], and Giuseppe Capolupo [drums]—bend and break all boundaries on their seventh full-length and debut for Solid State Records, The Act. Pulling plain-spoken poetry through distorted discord and dissonance, the six-piece delivers a dynamic and definitive statement.

Regarding the album, Mike Hranica says:

The Act is our seventh full-length and the most detailed effort of our career. The process was scrupulous in every facet. Jon, who’s played keyboard with the band for the last seven or eight years, produced the album; which is a decision that’s insurmountably snowballed over the past few releases. There is no common theme surrounding every song on the record, although there are notions that inhale and exhale through the LP’s timeline.

This just feels very make it, or break it for us. All bets are in on The Act. We tried to make something outside of the norm for rock, metalcore, or heavy music. We often hear commentary that ‘rock is dead’ now; I don’t think it has to be that way though. Look at the corners pop and hip-hop turn. Artists just need to reinvent themselves and make something creative and inventive again. Reinvention is what we’re driving towards.

Always a challenging band, The Devil Wears Prada bring their unique metal efforts to the boil with The Act. Even if it’s nothing but a warm simmering at first with Switchblade. Don’t be fooled though…that water’s getting very hot, very quickly as are The Devil Wears Prada and it’s all thanks to the hot intensity of Lines of Your Hands. An incredibly heavy track with touches of morose melody.

The latter melody of the previous track drives Chemical, a wonderfully miserable track that picks up brilliantly near the end. The slower and darker pace continues into Wave of Youth before Please Say No layers the misery on even more.

Some may bemoan three fairly downbeat and slower, effects heavy tracks in a row but that’s all part of The Devil Wears Prada’s listening challenge. They don’t conform to expectation, nor do they follow any set rule and it makes for a consistently fascinating listen.

Fear not though if you’re after something a bit meatier The Thread is eye-wateringly heavy. This is a beastly listen of crunchy riffs and ferocious percussion. A track that will leave doubters nodding their head in approval. Either that or the fuzzy noise of Isn’t It Strange?

The evolution of this band and this album is staggering. This is not something that ever gets boring and as it reaches its culmination with Diamond Lost, As Kids, Even Though and Spiderhead the simple fact of it is The Devil Wears Prada have put together an album of the year contender.

The Devil Wears Prada – The Act Full Track Listing:

1. Switchblade
2. Lines of Your Hands
3. Chemical
4. Wave of Youth
5. Please Say No
6. The Thread
7. Numb
8. Isn’t It Strange?
9. Diamond Lost
10. As Kids
11. Even Though
12. Spiderhead

Links

Pre-order