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Album Review: The Devil Wears Prada - Dead Throne

Posted by Ryan Kappy on 09/13 at 12:48 PM

Grade: A

The Devil Wears Prada may have the same name as the popular movie with Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway, but this Dayton, OH sextet - with Mike Hranica (lead vocals), Jeremy DePoyster (rhythm guitar, clean vocals), Chris Rubey (lead guitar), Andy Trick (bass guitar), Daniel Williams (drums), and James Baney (keyboards) - are far from wearing the luxury products from which their name is derived.

With each LP they have bestowed upon us, starting with 2006’s raw metalcore sound Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord, to 2009’s more sensible melodic album With Roots Above and Branches Below, they have continually matured as a band in the metalcore genre.  Then came the ferocious Zombie EP that exploded the band’s sound into a brutal yet technical display.  The band used the elements of that EP to create a full length album of epic metalcore in their newest release Dead Throne.

The beginning of the album builds up with the orchestra-like title track ‘Dead Throne’ with exploding drums thrown into Hranica’s unique screaming known to the metalcore scene.  A noticeable quality of this album is a change in Hranica’s growls with the help from A Day to Remember’s Jeremy McKinnon.  Hranica screeches out “I am guilty, I have fallen: There are things that have come between you and me.  We’ve put the world on a dead throne.” These lyrics express that the band is fighting the world of metalcore and proving to be the best in the business.  The next two songs show slick guitar work from Rubey and DePoyster playing melodic dual guitars to chugging breakdowns in ‘Untidaled,’ and ‘Vengeance.’ Then in the number ‘Mammoth,’ DePoyster and Hranica share intense vocals in saying “Is this it? Is this how it goes? I am the wretched one, I am the beggar’s hands. It comes back full circle. I cannot help but feel nothing.”

‘R.I.T.’ and ‘My Questions’ are the tracks on the record that make your ears wake up to the musicianship of the band as they incorporate more dual guitars from Depoyster and Rubey, and showcase Williams’ drumming skills.  Then the album comes to a halt with the instrumental ‘Kansas.’  This track gives a chilling tone to the record before breaking back into the ferocious ‘Born To Lose.’  ‘Born to Lose was the first single the band released and was performed all summer in this past year’s Vans Warped Tour.  ‘Forever Decay’ is another exploding track that shows off the raw recording of Trick’s pounding bass showcasing another key element to the music.  The album slows down to the calm yet loud track ‘Chicago’ where Hranica sings ‘In this grave hour, I have composed our final song.  The last words of our love lost.’

‘Constance’ is my favorite number because of all the different musical dynamics that are incorporated including orchestrated keys and gang vocals.  The most notable part of the song, though, is the featured guest vocals of Tim Lambesis from the band As I Lay Dying. He closes out the song with his notable growl.  The album closes out with the last two tracks ‘Pretenders’ and ‘Holdfast’ which shows TDWP‘s ability to finish as strong as they started.

The Devil Wears Prada have once again matured their sound in producing louder tones thanks to producer Adam Dutkiewicz from the metalcore pioneers Killswitch Engage.  As a whole, this album can easily be stated as the metalcore album of the year and I highly recommend the record to all metal listeners.  The album drops on September 13 and you can stream the album over at deadthrone.com or buy it at amazon.com: