The Devil Wears Prada - Plagues (Rise)
Does this band ever stop? The Devil Wears Prada are back with their second
full length, Plagues just under a year after the release of their debut Dear
Love, a Beautiful Discord (364 days). Though this album doesn’t stray far
from their previous releases, Plagues is a much more solid album. The
musicianship has improved tenfold and has seemingly become a little heavier.
The heavy use of clean singing by Jeremy DePoyster compliments the improved
growls of vocalist Mike Hranica very well. The guest vocals by Chiodos front
man Craig Owens on the track “You Can’t Spell Crap Without a C” doesn’t hurt
either. The lyrical content on Plagues picks up right where the last album
left off with their Christian overtone. Even with the lyrics based on
religion, I don’t find this album to be too preachy. The only thing about
this release that doesn’t make sense are the song titles. They have nothing
to do with the songs themselves, but I find them to be amouzing nonetheless
(Reptar, King of the Ozone. Come on now, anyone who grew up with early 90’s
cartoons will get this) Plagues is one of the most catchy, synth oriented
metal albums I have heard in a long time. The new material is fantastic live
as well. Go pick this album up and check them out while they’re on tour with
Chiodos this fall.Nick Zimmer
