EastScene

The Devil Wears Prada have recently released their third studio album, titled With Roots Above and Branches Below, and let me tell you something my friends, this isn’t your friendly neighbourhood Christian-metalcore band anymore, these guys mean some serious business.

They began the whole album with their song “Sassafras”, which had been released earlier on their MySpace page. This was deceiving because I heard Sassafras before the CD’s release and was asking myself how it could get any better, but, as always, I was wrong, and it did. Sassafras was only the beginning. I am somewhat impatient when listening to music, and so I like it when a song draws me in right off the bat, and the moment track two started I was hit with a surprisingly intense wave of music that just pulled me in and wouldn’t let go. I had one of those moments where you don’t even realize how hard you’re playing the air drums until you accidentally hit something and hurt yourself.

You don’t get to hear any solid vocals that aren’t screaming until track 3, but really, who’s complaing? TDWP are an extremely smart band, they know when they’re doing too much of something, or not enough, and so they seem like they’ve built their songs from the perspective of the listener. Everyone can agree that their vocals, screaming and singing, are amazing, and they seem to have worked out the balance to an art form. When you think you’re just going to be listening to the screams for three minutes, they mix in some beautiful melody that almost brings a tear to your eye. When’s the last time you can say you cried while listening to hardcore music?

Another thing that people seem to miss isn’t just the sound of the singing / screaming, it’s the actual words. I know they might not be the easiest to make out, but if you take the time to listen, like actually listen, to the lyrics, you’ll realize, and hopefully appreciate, the amount of work that goes into these songs. You can tell that they don’t just sit at a table and try to find words that rhyme then throw them in a song, these words actually mean something to them, which alot of bands seem to be lacking these days. Something that kind of contradicts what i just said is the way they go about  naming their songs. TDWP are known for their ridiculous song titles, but not only are they ridiculous on this album, they can trick you also. When i saw the title Louder Than Thunder go across my iPod screen I prepared myself for some epic music, and i definitely got what I was prepared for, just in a different way than I expected. Louder Than Thunder is easily the best representation of song writing on the whole album, and it definitely sends a message you wouldn’t expect from a band that thrives in the hardcore world.

Another extremely impressive thing about this CD is the amount of variety in their songs. Alot of times when I’m listening bands with hardcore backgrounds i feel like I’m being hit with the same stuff over and over, like all the songs are kind of swirled into eachother, but this album doesn’t have that problem. They somehow found a way to make every song have it’s own sound and feel to it, and with 11 songs on the album, I’m sure that was no easy task.

If you’re a fan of heart pounding music, songs that’ll get you up and movin’ in ways you didn’t know you could, crazy beats and crazier vocals, then your definitley in luck. Unless there’s no more copies of this CD left at your local store because everyone bought it. I tried my best, but i can honestly say there’s no way for me to describe how amazing this album is unless you go out and listen to it for yourself, believe me you won’t regret it, even if you’re not a fan of the genre.
5 out of 5, 10 out of 10, 100% awesome, with a dash of amazing on the side.

Noteable tracks

I Hate Buffering, Big Wiggly Style, Danger: Wildman, Louder Than Thunder

*To be honest I wish I could put all the songs on the noteable tracks list but that would destroy the point of it.