Band: The Devil Wears Prada
Album title: Dead Throne
Label: Roadrunner Records
Distributor: CNR – Concreteweb Promotion Office.
Release date: 09/09/2011
Release: CD

I can still recall the days when I was a huge fan of the boys in The Devil Wears Prada. I first ran into this band with the all-time classic Dogs Can Grow Bears All Over. It sounded so awesome and so different that this track introduced me to a new musical genre, way more aggressive than I had ever heard before. As a consequence, I was introduced to many more other bands and at the end of the story, I lost track of The Devil Wears Prada. So, I was mostly happy and curious when I received a copy of their latest album, called Dead Throne.
The most general thing I can say about Dead Throne is the following: forget everything you've ever heard of this band ! On this new record, they introduce a very mature sound and it proves that they have evolved a lot. Everything is much more complex, each song stands on its own, ... One of the most dangerous things a band can do, is adding keyboards and clean vocals to the group's sound. This is a risk The Devil Wears Prada has taken as well, but whereas many bands fail as soon as they do it, they put themselves on another level.
Of course they stick to their roots and still use elements in their music which they've been using for some years now: the very distinctive throat of singer Mike Hranica and the enormous amount of breakdowns which feels like getting a punch thrown to your face.
The combination of these older elements with the brand new elements, is what makes Dead Throne a real masterpiece.
If The Devil Wears Prada were to be a mathematical formula, then it would be the formula to success, because that's what they'll definitely achieve with this album ... and big stages as well, of course. Everybody has already forgotten about the movie The Devil Wears Prada, but the band will live on and on !

97/100

Nick Tronckoe.