Review Summary: The Devil Wears Prada breaks away from their roots and branches
'Try to contain every ounce of sorrow, our hearts have no room for this'
That line seemed to stay with me throughout the whole album... Proving that a run-of-the mill band can become something special with the right blend of heaviness and quickness. Introduced in the Devil Wears Prada zombie EP.
While the band have never really appealed to me before with thier former albums 'plagues' or 'with roots and branches' I picked up the EP with low expectations. More of the same? Prada have surprised me with this one, dropping the strange titles for a more serious, hard hitting collection of songs. Those songs tell a story of the zombie apocalypse with some awesome sound effects thrown in for good measure.
'Escape' is something I'd wish the former albums lived up to. A stream of thunder and lightning in the background will send your eyes rolling until the hammering drum beat starts an assault on your ear drums. The track is pure metalcore and the screaming top notch. While it may not be much different from any other metal songs 'Escape' manages to sound unique with the higher screaming, the lower growls or the whirring police sirens. It's a nice start to what looks to be a promising album
'Anatomy' follows with an exciting chainsaw noise and follows the path laid down by 'escape' It's roughly as fast with the same raw screaming but while lacking the effects of 'Escape' such as gunshots. It still proves to be a powerful song with synthesising added to keep 'Anatomy' feeling varied.
'Outnumbered' opens with a news broadcast telling of the apocalypse as it stands. It has the catchiest chorus of them all and keeps the same rough feeling with the guitar and drums played heavily. 'Outnumbered' is a slower song than the opening two tracks, but the lyrics more than make up for this. Along with the haunting closure to the track and the same headache inducing vocals... But who said that was a bad thing in metal right?
'Revive' starts with an addicting guitar riff and never fails to impress in this area. The sound effects are back in 'Revive' with glass breaking and screaming people that paint a picture of a real apocalypse in my head. The lyrics 'All is lost in the flood of the risen dead' marks this as a doom song, hopeless in a way. The story that has started in this EP of killing zombies and surviving has quickly turned on it's head at this point. It's still as heavy as the previous songs - and prepared to be treated to some great screams. Did I mention the deep breathing at the end? It'll send your heart pounding.
'Survivor' is the final track of the zombie EP and contains the best growls featured on the album. With a zombie theme included, one which i can't quite put my finger on and a heart tugging chorus that you'll remember weeks after 'Will anything get better for me. I have watched the world Die all I know now is regret' It isn't a happy ending but this album didn't sound happy from the start. 'Survivor' uses the same formula of all the other songs and seems to mash it together; creating an energetic yet serious song about a survivor who's lost the woman he loves.
On that positive note I must say that the Devil Wear's Prada have stepped up to the plate of the metalcore genre. They've dropped the immature titles of the first few albums and followed up with a great mixture of heavy songs. The new sound the band has taken on is actually fun, energetic and is worthy of a purchase.
Is that a zombie outside my window?
Recommended songs
.Escape
.Revive
.Survivor
