The Devil Wears Prada - With Roots Above and Branches Below
To be honest, I‘ve heard rumblings of this foxy sextet, but until now, I‘ve never really given them the attention they quite clearly deserve…
In the first months of 2009, The Devil Wears Prada entered the studio with producer Joey Sturgis to record their third full length album and Ferret Music debut, With
Roots Above, And Branches Below. Alternative Press regarded the upcoming album one of the most anticipated albums of 2009, and now FemaleFirst have got their teeth into it.
I always find it so bizarre to hear a band like this who market themselves as a ‘Christian Metalcore’ group on that ever-so-reliable source that is Wikipedia, because, lets face it, I always think of religious music as those folk in gospel choirs calpping their hands with much enthusiasm.
The Devil Wears Prada still deliver on some of my stereotypes, to the point that that they blast through their latest record with as much gusto as a steam train without any brakes; and if you were a fan of Plagues, you’ll be interested to hear that Mike Hranica told us; “ “Vocally, the [new] album is much beefier. The way we recorded the album, Jeremy (DePoyster) and I were both able to put more time into it, and the songs came out with much more emotion in the vocals.
“Lyrically, I’ve always had the same idea in my head; all of our songs are about tragedy, life, the real world, and God. I’m pretty excited about the lyrics on this album. Every Christian band has songs about God and ‘come to God, God is good’. I took a different approach and I have written songs for this record about people that have come to God and are struggling now to keep their faith and need help.”
Their latest album is possessed of equal parts slithering metal riffage meshed with plush rock passages, peppered with a barrage of synth sounds and harsh to melodic vocals. Their attack is complicated further with unexpected twists and turns in composition, larger melodies and a more focused aggression.
Each song on the album delivers on a million different levels, and I’m quite astounded as to why it’s taken me so long to jump on the bandwagon of this band… especially as they’re swanning around the US with my favourite band, A Day To Remember at the moment…
Plus, if you’re mates hate this kind of music, just hook them up with Louder Than Thunder, and they’ll be tricked into loving TDWP… winner; so I guess the only question that remains now is, whether this latest album can overtake the success of Plagues, which has sold over 115,000 in the U.S.
To say that this album makes me want to crawl inside iTunes and pour the entire band over my head like treacle, probably means it’s going to do pretty well.
Rating: 5/5 - I’m defo throwing the Prada bag out and getting in the cool club.
Skip To: I Hate Buffering - My current favourite, although Assistant to the Regional Manager is pretty epic.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison