Review Summary: A huge step up from one of the most inconsistent bands in the metalcore scene.
“Our early material was dumb, plain and simple, and moving away from that, I think we've grown into smarter, more creative riffs, along with easier to follow songs. It's things like that that mark the evolution of TDWP.”
It takes guts for a band to swallow their pride and admit that they haven’t made a record up to par with their songwriting abilities. The Devil Wears Prada chugged their way onto the scene with their debut album,
Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord, back in 2006 and a mere year later released their sophomore LP
Plagues. In that short span of time, it’d be hard for any band to make a good follow up to anything. TDWP had their chance at redemption with their third LP,
With Roots Above and Branches Below, but failed to keep anyone’s attention. The release of the
Zombie EP in 2010 marked a new beginning for TDWP. Gone were the days of horrible song titles and misplaced breakdowns. Instead, they re-invented themselves as a band that actually cared what they sounded like and wanted to be known as more than that Christian metalcore band with the “cool breakdowns.”
Dead Throne follows in the footsteps of the
Zombie EP by being a lot more aggressive than it’s predecessors. Instead of mindless chugging and random breakdowns followed by a cheesy synth-line, TDWP now come with a much more complete/tighter sound than before. The first half of the album is just a straightforward
Zombie style assault and a big middle finger to anybody who has doubted them before.
Dead Throne shows that TDWP can be more than a one trick pony and actually write creative music while still maintaining the heavy feel to their music without throwing breakdowns everywhere. Halfway through the album, you could say the listener gets a “break” and the slower, more melodic track
Kansas plays before continuing with the album's single,
Born to Lose. The second half is definitely the strongest part of the album with tracks such as
Chicago, that show a band who isn’t afraid to step out of their comfort zone and slow down a bit, and then follow with a heavier track like
Constance. Hranica’s shrill screams and brutal low’s carry the album throughout, and the band follows suit by being keeping up the momentum throughout the album.
Of the overall improvement of the band as a whole, one of the highlights of the album are vocalist Mike Hranica’s vocals, which come across as very angry, but at the same time brutally emotional and honest.
Dead Throne doesn’t follow one concept, but one of the themes the album did follow was “anti-idolatry.” Hranica has spoken about the album, saying:
"Dead Throne" is the title track, and it opens the record. It's the idea of putting up our idols, heroes, and entities we worship onto a figurative throne. Those things won't stay up there, and they're not meant to be up there. That idea behind Dead Throne is making kings out of things that shouldn't be kings.”
Though some people may not put them up on a pedestal and idolize them as kings of metalcore,
Dead Throne is definitely a standout LP for 2011’s metalcore scene and a testament that band’s can change and become a powerful force. TDWP re-defined their sound to make a very interesting release that will capture the attention of many, and attract plenty of new fans from a different musical background. Give
Dead Throne a listen; you might be surprised to like a lot of what TDWP has to offer.
