Review: The Devil Wears Prada’s Dead Throne

Leading metalcore band The Devil Wears Prada is bringing new musical elements into their sound on their fourth full-length, Dead Throne, out Sept. 13, 2011 on Ferret Records. After the release of Zombie EP in August of 2010, fans were undoubtedly expecting a heavier change from The Devil Wears Prada’s sound. While many fan reactions have been either “love it” or “hate it,” it is very clear that The Devil Wears Prada has matured their sound as their members have grown through the years.

Dead Throne’s first track begins with an instrumental opening before turning into a heavy-hitting song with fast riffs, gang vocals, simple keyboard pieces, but also containing zero clean vocals.  The song “R.I.T.” is another song on the record that contains all screamed vocals.  One of the standout tracks is “Kansas,” which is mostly an instrumental break, something that the band’s albums have lacked since their first full-length, Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord.  The song “Chicago” is also a new style for the band because of its softness and simple drums, but continued use of the unclean vocals rather than Jeremy DePoyster’s singing. The album ends with the song “Holdfast,” which has simple musical elements, particularly simple drum hits and keyboard melodies.

The vocals of Dead Throne are also a notable piece of the album.  Mike Hranica goes above and beyond just screaming and growling, by speaking in many of the songs including “Untidaled” and using a higher screaming voice.  Guitarist Chris Rubey also made some vocal contributions to the new record that can be heard in the opening track “Dead Throne,” “Born To Lose,” and others.  DePoyster’s singing still keeps the melody that many fans are used to hearing, however, his presence is less heard on this album than on those before it.

The lyrics of Dead Throne also have a heavier feel on listeners and sometimes have moments of negativity to them.  While in the past, The Devil Wears Prada’s lyrics may not have been exactly positive, they have had a hopeful direction to them.  The lyrics of Dead Throne contain anger towards oneself and to the world around the writer.

All elements combined have made for a solid fourth record for The Devil Wears Prada and will be sure to grab the attention of bands within the music scene as well. The release of Dead Throne shows that some changes will need to happen in order to keep the fans attention in the ever expanding band population.