While their discography is wide-ranging and expansive for any band that’s still playing metalcore (or something close to it), there’s a distinct shift in sound that The Devil Wears Prada underwent after the release of their critically acclaimed ZombieZombie EP. Often considered the band’s best work even to this day, the EP was an intentional move away from the breakdown–infested metalcore sound that had made them extremely popular. It did the job quite effectively, to say the least – the songwriting was a real turning point for a band that was still exceedingly young at the time.
Then came one of their most important tasks yet – doing the same with a full-length record. Released on September 13th, 2011, Dead Throne did indeed mark a turning point in their overall sound. Gone were many of the vestiges of their past – songs like “Kansas” showed their instrumental prowess and ability to try something new, and Mike Hranica’s voice was much improved when you listen to “Mammoth”, “Born To Lose”, and “Forever Decay”. It’s the kind of leap musicians often take on their second record, but by this point, TDWP were grizzled veterans, relatively speaking.
Vocalist Mike Hranica once remarked that “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.” With Dead Throne, it was unquestionably clear that they meant it. They’ve even managed to continue pushing the envelope from a musical perspective, and this record has a plethora of examples of it.
