The Devil Wears Prada

Dear Love, A Beautiful Discord

Written by: TL on 16/04/2007 01:30:46

*excitement!* YES! Finally another band I can get away with labelling with my semi-made up 'fashioncore' genre! The Devil Wears Prada should have had their debut full length "Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord" reviewed when it actually came out, if it's Danish release date hadn't made sure we didn't get it as a promo till now (and if I hadn't thought we'd already reviewed it). But hey, it's a Christian band and in the spirit of that let's all just forgive each other and move on from this seriously weird introduction I've managed to compose and get on with the actual description of the music now, shall we?

The bands sound can be accurately described with words such as dark or gloomy. Disturbingly heavy staccato riffage take its time at grinding you into the ground, most of the time with - surprise surprise - discord. Death metallish throaty screams/growls are in your face only seldomly being replaced by clean vocals, except for on the track "Swords, Dragons & Diet Coke" where they have a brief moment of dominance. In fact, were it only for these elements, this band would sound almost completely like Drop Dead Gorgeous, only more heavy than screamo. However what really characterizes this band is the way their synths and the production work to make it all sound like it's being played in a huge cave, deep underground and in pitch black darkness. The mood is that depressing and because of that the band ultimately comes off as a more epic and death/black metal-influenced relative to Drop Dead.

In the beginning of the album, the bands' songs seem to work more like a display for what kind of style the band is aiming for, than as actual songs, but when you arrive at the fifth track "Rosemary Had An Accident" you'll catch a glimpse of what this band sounds like when it shines, as here the elements come together to form a more complete expression than earlier. "Swords Dragons & Diet Coke" and "Who Speaks Spanish, Colon Quesadilla" seem like more ordinary in your face hardcore/screamo tracks, before the massive onslaught of the epic "Texas Is South" hits you like a great black tidal wave. "Modeify The Pronouncation" follows along the same lines until the almost completely ambient "Salvation" closes the album.

Whether you like The Devil Wears Prada better than bands like Drop Dead Gorgeous will ultimately come down to if you have a taste for the epicism the former stands for, but to me at least, it does seem like the band gets a bit lost somewhere between said epicism and trying to be more conventionally 'in your face'. This becomes the downfall of the band, as their unique style might have otherwise served to conceal the fact that their songs could have been written somewhat better. But then again, they're still a young band and given time, their improvements might very well end up fascinating us later on.

7

Download: "Rosemary Had An Accident", "Who Speaks Spanish, Colon Quesadilla", "Texas Is South"
For the fans of: Drop Dead Gorgeous, Bring Me The Horizon
Listen: MySpace

Release date 22.08.2006
Rise Records
Provided by Target ApS

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