Formed in Dayton, Ohio in 2005 and taking their name from the same titled book, The Devil Wears Prada had a certain something that elevated them among their peers. It wasn’t just an adherence to the Christian faith, but a cerebral bent which made them far more multifaceted than the usual visceral metalcore attack that most bands dealt in. While band members (and beliefs) have come and gone, one thing that has remained constant is a love of the “song” and they have served up a succession of solid albums. Long player number nine is no exception and features fourteen songs that find the band revitalised and ready to take on the world.
Twenty years is a long time to spend in the music industry, and especially in the frenetic world of metal/hardcore where bands burn themselves out fairly quickly. Yet, not only have The Devil Wears Prada survived, they’ve positively prospered and that’s primarily due to a kind of musical elasticity; while there’s been no radical overhaul in their sound, the band have an amazing ability to shapeshift, to pull various other genres into their orbit and repurpose them in their own image. Case in point is intro ‘That Same Place’, with a distinctly emo vibe, I thought I’d entered the new Glassjaw album, but make no mistake, when ‘Where The Flowers Grow’ kicks in, this could only be The Devil Wears Prada. Heavy, yet melodic, it’s full of skull crushing riffs, a powerful rhythm section and sheets of glacial synths, yet is also punctuated by white space. The quiet acts as a foil for the loud, each highlighting and enhancing the other, it’s a dichotomy that pulls the listener in two directions and this duality will echo throughout Flowers, from the push and pull of the loud and quiet to the haunting effect of the double tracked vocals.
The Devil Wears Prada’s approach affords the band a lot of freedom and it’s something they put to good use on this album. Flowers is perhaps their most diverse long player and proudly displays their whole oeuvre, from hardcore to metal, but no matter how heavy things get there’s always an unashamedly melodic sensibility to stitch things together. It means that the band can jump from the minimalist ‘The Silence’ to the dense sonics of ‘Eyes’ without missing a beat. Subsequently, the whole of Flowers flows smoothly, like a river flowing to its destination we reach thoughtful closer ‘My Paradise’, a creative conclusion that suggests this ending is merely a beginning.
- Flowers is released via Solid State Records on 14th November 2025.
- Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | X | YouTube Channel
Track List:
1. That Same Place
2. Where the Flowers Never Grow
3. Everybody Knows
4. So Low
5. For You
6. All Out
7. Ritual
8. When You’re Gone
9. The Sky Behind The Rain
10. The Silence
11. Eyes
12. Cure Me
13. Wave
14. My Paradise
