The Devil Wears Prada “Color Decay”
Three years on from The Act, The Devil Wears Prada are back with their new album Color Decay.
What can you expect from the album? It’s big, textured, contrasting and heavy all at the same time. Opening with Exhibition with a catchy chorus of ‘welcome to the way down’, the song starts like it’s picking a fight before vocalist Mike Hranica melodic vocals harness the sound in during the chorus and then a rather nifty breakdown.
Following up is the energetic yet polar opposite Salt. The sonic textures from the keyboards underneath the blast of music make the impact of the songs lyrics much more impressive. Contrasting that are the ethereal moments of melancholy interspersed throughout the song.
It’s in contrasting moments – the light and dark, the heavy and soft – that make the album compelling. You know something is coming up but quite what you’re not sure.
Watchtower will be a real circle pit starter when played live even though the chorus is layered with harmonies. Noise has a jagged rolling riff that sprinkled a touch of nu metal and pop punk to the music as the breakdown implores impending madness.
The album has been designed to listen from track one right the way through and after Broken, a vocally emotional song with a touching melody slows the pace a little, Sacrifice and Trapped display the bands textured approach to their sound, with no space in sound left untouched by tunes that can be hummed long after listened too.
Time is a whirling, bouncing, rolling belter. The sort of song you sing to the sky to release your hurt.
That leads into a spell of songs that bring the electronic elements more to the fold in Twenty-Five – an ethereal tune of growing old, Fire and Hallucinate.
Finishing with Cancer the band bring all the previous eleven songs elements into one, all the music and lyrical textures into a fitting end to an album that reflects the trials of life.
The Devil Wears Prada have cracked themselves open and laid their insides bare. That vulnerability has borne a compelling piece of art that must be explored over and again, such is the richness of their story. A genuine contender for album of the year.
Album Review By Iain McCallum
