The Devil Wears Prada: The Act of Moving Forward

Ohio metalcore giants THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA have made a name for themselves within the genre since their 2006 debut Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord. Since then they have been consistently reinventing their sound to reach new heights, an example being of With Roots Above and Branches Below becoming a staple in their career. Now over a decade on from the late Myspace era days when metalcore was a lot more about fringes and Famous Stars and Straps, we see the band discover a new maturity with The Act.

“We’re not tired of being THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, but at the same time we are tired of repeating ourselves and when you feel like you’ve gotten to that space, it’s time to say ‘Okay, put it all on the line and see what happens’”, vocalist Mike Hranica says. With every new direction there are new risks that show themselves and as Hranica mentions, the band have put everything on the line with The Act and are just awaiting the final verdict of what will come of the band’s most adventurous work. “The Act is our baby, it’s been the hardest bit of work we’ve ever completed over the last number of years and now the world has the opportunity to hear what we did.”

Despite mentioning that The Act is THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA putting everything on the line, regardless of how the final outcome is perceived, they aren’t a band to give up and break up. “I’ve always said that the band is never going to break up”, Hranica states, “I hate the cop-out that so many bands have done lately as far as break up, sell a lot of merchandise on their farewell tour, and then they come back like four years later; I find that so disgusting and cheap, even from artists that I grew up deeply admiring. For me, you know, I could always see Prada playing a show here and there.”

So, how exactly have this household name in metalcore vamped things up to avoid the fate of doing more harm? “It felt pretty inevitable as far as feeling like we’ve kind of done the same thing too many times now, and getting to a point where it almost compromises or it’s detrimental to the art itself or the band’s legacy.” Hranica goes on to mention, “I think we just wanted to create something much more moody and do so yielding instrumentation a bit differently, as far as what one might hear from very guitar-driven bands such as ourselves, but also being able to utilise programming, synths and different sample sounds more directly, and in a manner that isn’t so popular.” 

The reasoning behind why THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA have really stepped it up a notch with taking things to the next level in terms of sound and maturity is understandable. “I mean, we’ve also been pretty outspoken about the band’s maturation and what influences and what inspires us to create as a 30 year old vs. a 16 year old. It’s pretty night and day, but still built off the backbone of expression and catharsis.”

Whatever this Ohio band is doing, they’re certainly not afraid of making moves in other directions to keep THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA alive and kicking as an outlet for their expression and that for their fans. The Act may have been their biggest risk, but it certainly proves that without taking it they would not be keeping up with their own personal growth since their youth group days. Metalcore has proven that it is a fast progressing genre, and bands like Prada haven’t lost their ability to keep up. Putting everything on the line certainly was the best decision for the band, not only for themselves but for the genre itself.

The Act is out now via Solid State Records. THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA will be featured in our upcoming issue, subscribe to our Patreon to read the extended version. 

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