The Devil Wears Prada – Transit Blues (2016) Album Review
The Devil Wears Prada. A band that has always managed to make an impression again and again among not only their fan base, but their genre industry as well. From the early Metal Core Era of 2006 to the age of modernization in our most previous years, Prada has consistently made their sound unique and their own. Prada started out as a group like any other in the early metal-core days that would place silly names for song titles, as well being young in the industry, as many bands were at this time (2006-2007). In reality, Prada, while even in this stage of their career, contained something different. Vocals, Instrumentals, Lyricism. All of those things have always been different from other bands, and in the album Transit Blues, we find yet another way in which the band has become unique. In other words, like many other artists and bands in the music industry, evolution is becoming the apparent key to open more ways to succeed in their musical careers. Prada has done just that: evolved.
Diving into this album, Prada has taken another approach on the instrumentals and lyricism. In the past, Prada has made many of the lyrics in their songs about something involving metaphors or analogies about their religion, in this case, Christianity. However, this is an album that has a different approach on the lyricism. Transit Blues tackles various different ideas and subjects that are seen commonly in the world we live in. Instrumentally, Transit Blues takes away some influence from their predecessor album 8:18 as well as the Space EP. When listening to each song, you are entered into an atmosphere created carefully by various tools that the band uses, such as synths, progressive tones, etc. Each song feels like it’s own story, while still being a part of a bigger picture. No song will feel like its predecessor and that’s how it should be.
Furthermore, other notes to be made are that this album is making absolutely great is how the vocals are being played out. We are getting to hear a lot more raw emotion from Mike Hrancia as well as the more controlled yet powerful vocals of Jeremy Depoyster. From their first album Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord to Transit Blues, Hrancia and Depoyster as vocalists have changed, and in a mature manner. Hrancia has become not only more clearer to understand, but has taken to experimenting with taking a more spoken word edge to his vocals, such as in Home For The Grave pt. 2. Hrancia has seemingly placed more raw emotion and heart into these vocals. Moving on, Depoyster has also changed from the first album to this current one. We went from your classic metalcore high note belting vocals to a more mature and controlled vocal approach. With the both of these vocals changes, we are lead into a more dynamic sound, and that’s just what Prada needed.
This album was just a step in the right direction for Prada in order to stay alive within the industry, and as a Prada fan myself, I couldn’t be happier. There’s much excitement to be had for them in the future, but until the future arrives, we’ll have this little bundle of joy. Go pick up a copy of Transit Blues today and visit The Devil Wears Prada’s YouTube Channel and website for more updates from the band.
Click here to visit Prada’s YouTube and catch all their latest tracks and click here to visit their website for tour dates!
