THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA | The Act | Album Review

Evolution is everything, especially if you're a band that started out one way eventually to try new things and aim for a refined sound. To say that The Devil Wears Prada is a different band then they were in the mid 2000's is putting it very lightly perhaps moreso than other bands of their genre. That description rings true with the band's seventh studio album, "The Act", the band's debut under a new label in Solid State Records. After releasing albums that catered a lot to the Hot Topic-leaning metalcore audience from the late 2000's, it's inevitable to see how the change to experimental metalcore music was necessary, especially given the fact that the band doesn't even look back at their early stuff with fond memories anymore. "The Act" is a further deviation from The Devil Wears Prada's other albums, and is also a much darker display of the band's ever evolving sound. Lead vocalist Mike Hranica's interview with Heavy New York revealed that the band wanted to go into this different direction. When production started, the band had 30 songs cooked up for the new album, only to find out the tracks sounded too much like the material heard on 2016's "Transit Blues". After that, the band started again from scratch and chose the tracks that fit the band's attempts at making something new, and included them on the final tracklist. Many bands are guilty of softening up and reaching for trendy styles or releasing the same thing ad nauseum. With the four men in this metalcore band, you don't know what you'll be delivered until the first notes of the opening track come in, and that is what makes this band stick out well.

Prior to the album's release, the band released three singles to highlight that their attempts at making a new album that isn't a rehash are succinct and have weight behind them. "Lines Of Your Hands", "Please Say No", and "Chemical" were those three cuts to get attention. All of these are found in the first half of the album and "Lines Of Your Hands" and "Chemical" are next to each other on the tracklist. If anyone was hoping for a different album than "Transit Blues", they will have their expectations met instantly with the new material. "Lines Of Your Hands" is the second track on the album and takes on a radio format with a verse and chorus structure  but it doesn't sound like a by-the-numbers radio track. There is a lot to take in that is presented on this song, including both vocalist's performances here. Mike Hranica's screamed vocals backed behind the softer verses connect decently and the chorus is resemblant of a post-hardcore song. On top of that, there are female vocals that come in at the end that will undeniably take listeners off guard. It is proof that this band is creative and can bring in elements that make something unique. "Please Say No" and "Chemical" delve into ballad territory with "Chemical" having the stronger edge. Mike Hranica even does some clean vocals on both of these songs that mix well with his screaming vocal performance, and it's another element that takes the band's sound to new horizons. Jeremy DePoyster still provides clean vocals in parts, but Mike Hranica really does excel on this album in terms of his performance.

The rest of the album is hard to review because there is a lot of variety across this twelve-track album. Looking at "The Act" as a complete whole, they definitely were correct when they said that this disc is a departure from "Transit Blues". To be honest, this album admittedly starts off on a rougher start with "Switchblade", which is the album's heaviest track, but I find that the song doesn't really gain momentum until about a minute and forty five seconds in with the electronic female voice. It's an interesting change of pace for the song which features some oddly constructed riffs in its first half. Thankfully, though, the rest of the album stays consistent and flows well as a solid piece. Tracks such as "Wave Of Youth", "Diamond Lost", "Even Though" and the album closer "Spiderhead" find a middle ground in post-hardcore and mix that with solid riffs and Hranica's vocal delivery which is varied this time around. Most of the aforementioned tracks are some of the band's best tracks to date, especially "Wave Of Youth" and "Spiderhead". The highlight of the entire album, however, is "The Thread". This track will please all fans of TDWP, newcomers and longtime fans. The heavy breakdowns are plentiful on this track, which are reminiscent of the band's early material, but blends that aspect in with the experimental nature of modern TDWP that new fans are used to. It's an excellent track, and it's definitely worth checking out for sure. Safe to say, there truly is something for everybody on this album.

Aside from "Switchblade" leaving me a bit polarized in terms of whether I enjoy it or not, there are a couple weaker spots on this album that prove that "The Act" is a project where there are weaker songs than others. "Please Say No", one of the album's lead singles, is a solid track comparable to "Chemical" and even "Numb", but it doesn't have much of a climax and chooses to just simply end without much buildup. Tracks such as "Isn't It Strange" and "As Kids" are either forgettable or are clearly not the album's highest peaks. With that being said, each track on the album still feels wholly different from the band's past work and even other bands of the genre. It's an interesting album to say the least. In a genre where bands are formatting their sound to fit perfectly on radio or doing the same thing over and over like clockwork, The Devil Wears Prada continue to defy expectations and resist the pressures of making an album that sounds similar to albums that put them on the map in the first place. Though some aspects of the experimentation heard on "The Act" are difficult to wrap your mind around at times, most of the songs are realized ideas and the album as a whole is proven to stand out in a sea of projects this year from other bands that are too similar to each other. Overall, "The Act" is another interesting album from Dayton, Ohio's The Devil Wears Prada. If you haven't listened to TDWP since the MySpace days or are totally unfamiliar with this metalcore act completely, give this album a listen and be surprised.

RATING: 7/10

Leave your thoughts about this album in the comments section below. Was this album good or bad? Was it a surprise or a disappointment? All you have to do is type it in. Everybody's opinions matter even if they are different than mine. Scamp4553 will be back with more reviews and content coming your way soon.