EP Review: The Devil Wears Prada – Space
2 min read
The idea of outer space is a fairly common theme in music; The Prodigy and the Beastie Boys both leap to mind , as do Savage Garden. But on first glance, it’s not such a common theme in metal. However, that’s exactly where US metalcore stalwarts The Devil Wears Prada have gone to with their new EP, Space. And on closer inspection, it turns out that it’s a concept that lends itself surprisingly well to the genre.
With no particular background in the subject, the band landed on “space” as an outlet for more imaginative creativity. Exchanging traditional demons for aliens, hauling mankind’s demise from off the face of the Earth, The Devil Wears Prada take the galaxy as the setting for all the usual themes of lost hope and destruction, and hurl the familiar figure of The Outcast into Outer space.
These celestial themes lend themselves to a more lyrical production than previous releases from The Devil Wears Prada. With all the battering assault and excoriating vocals that you would expect from a metalcore band, breakdowns are set to more melodic backdrops, electro effects and harmonious backing that echo vintage Atreyu. Closing track Asteroids has a particularly epic culmination complete with primal yells and soaring sonic effects – an apocalyptic march into the unknown.
Lyrically, Space has the air of a “metal opera”, tempering the standard brutality of a metalcore release. But similarly to classical opera; out of context, the lyrics occasionally feel a bit underwhelming. More successful tracks like Alien transpose the characteristic desperate S.O.S onto a cosmic setting, and Asteroid is stands as a near perfect metal track: a finale that expertly blends atmospheric pauses and the band’s space age evolution with their usual full-throttle force. Unfortunately elsewhere, it’s not entirely certain whether “space” has the weight to stand in the metal arena. Leaving it feeling a bit uneven, Space is a brave step into the unknown, but it might not be convincing enough.
