The Devil Wears Prada - Color Decay (Solid State Records) [GC]
It’s a story we all know, a band who has been around for ages but you have never really listened to but then one day you give their latest album a try, well this was me back in 2009 for The Devil Wears Prada and their phenomenal With Roots Below And Branches Above, I absolutely adore that record and it is genuinely an Grade A classic, after that I kind of drifted in and out with TDWP until the Zombie EP which again was out of this world and another classic then again drifted back and forth not really paying attention as nothing the released matched up to the those 2 records, so here I am drifting back in again for their new album Color Decay to see where they are at.
First track Exhibition wasn’t what I was expecting, beginning with a gothy punk vibe which leads into a big warm emo chorus, the goth vibes permeate and pulse all the way through this song and the chorus is a definite ear worm and will stick in your head for a good while before it all explodes with the big beat down riffs I was expecting before sliding back into the gothy punk mode but it all works well next song Salt is the first single due to be released and is another goth tinged and moody song that builds up nicely toward a big singalong chorus and a big anthemic ending, Watchtower starts off at a breakneck pace and is all double bass chaotic streaming and staccato riffing with a nice meaty mid-section and a huge ending its almost as if they want to remind us that they can still crush with the best of them, job done!
Track 4 Noise is a slow burning, crawling menace of a song that unexpectedly blasts into life in sporadic blasts and then slows all the way back down for maximum effect before Broken slowly introduces itself with some mellow guitars and echoing drums that then cascade into a big verse before building towards an almost now trademark anthemic chorus which then leads away into a sea of atmospheric electronica that leads us directly into Sacrifice which is another brooding monster with just the right mix of emotional punch and savagery mixed together throughout to make sure you are never truly at ease but always fully involved in the song. Trapped kicks in with some tortured vocals that really hit you head on as they are the focal point here and the music really takes a back seat until the flowing electronica joins in to create a lush soundscape but always compliments the vocals all the way in a beautiful way on the mellowest but also most important song so far, next up is Time which is more of the ‘’old school’’ Devil Wears Prada with is chugging riffs, pounding drums and ferocious vocals it’s a nice contrast to follow from Trapped.
The next few songs all take a similar path and almost tray and ease us out of the album Twenty-Five is another vocal led track accompanied by soft electronics and pianos to really highlight the emotion that is in the vocals, Fire flows from the speakers on a wall of beats and quiet strings and doesn’t need to be heavy to be effective as again the vocals are a beautiful focal point and are just as heavy as any guitar could ever be. Hallucinate starts off slow and menacing almost like its teasing something before exploding into life briefly in between some electronic passages and then throwing in the biggest beatdown riff on the whole album to end the song before, the beautiful final track Cancer smothers us with more big blissful atmospherics and one last impassioned vocal performance that will have you gripped until the closing notes carry you to the end.
I didn’t really know what to expect coming into this but I have really enjoyed what I heard its not as heavy musically as the Devil Wears Prada that I discovered all the way back in 2009 and that’s fine as the evolution has clearly been an emotional one and this shines bright on this album, the passion, feeling and heart on show here is a triumph and makes this album truly shine. This is a beautiful release and deserves all the praise it is going to receive. 9/10
Destrage - SO MUCH. too much. (Century Media/3DOT Recordings) [Richard Oliver]
This is a bit of a difficult album to review. It’s actually a bit of a difficult album to get my head around even after multiple listens. Destrage are a band that I’ve seen mentioned but never experienced the sheer utter chaos of until listening to their new and sixth album SO MUCH, too much. Trying to describe the music of Destrage is a bit of a mammoth task as there is SO MUCH going on in the space of a single song. They fall in the descriptor of progressive metal but in reality they have elements of prog metal, mathcore, glitchy electronica and anything else the band decides to throw at you within the confines of a song.
Despite the fact that these songs sharply twist, turn and jolt all over the place there is a degree of catchiness about them as well as a fair amount of groove in the riffs. The catchiness stems from frontman Paolo Colavolpe whose versatile voice carries the melodies and hooky nature of some of the songs such as Venice Has Sunk, Private Party (which features the legendary Devin Townsend), An Imposter and the frankly bonkers but very fun Italian Boi and Unisex Unibrow. There are more relaxing moments such as Is It Still Today and album closer Everything Sucks Less which offer a moment of respite from the madness. The unpredictable nature of this album keeps you on your toes but it also means that it is a lot to digest.
This is an album that requires multiple listens as it is so multi-layered you will hear things you didn’t hear before on each consecutive listen. The musicianship throughout is fantastic and the ability to combine this level of unhinged quirkiness with big poppy hooks is commendable. This album is a quirky and enjoyable one but its lack of cohesiveness works against it at times. If you are a fan of bands such as The Dillinger Escape Plan, Between The Buried And Me and the more unhinged side of Devin Townsend then this album comes recommended. 7/10
Evermore - Court Of The Tyrant King (Scarlet Records) [Simon Black]
Now I’m not sure why an album that only got released first time around last year is getting a relaunch in 2022, but either way this is the first time I’ve come across this Swedish power metal three piece’s debut. It’s very much a studio project, as with a vocalist (Johan Haraldsson), a drummer (Andreas Vikland) and all the guitars, bass, piano and orchestrations being handled by Johan Karlsson, so I can’t see them playing live with the current line-up any time soon. Unless Karlsson has more than one set of arms of course…
Musically this is fairly classic Euro power metal fare, although with a nice heavy edge and a very strong vocal performance from Haraldsson and straight away the fact that most of the instrumentation is being handled by one person because evident, as the instrumental melody lines are not what you call sophisticated. Now don’t get me wrong, he’s clearly talented, but four or five instrumentalists bouncing ideas off of one another would create variation, interplay and a little more musical chemistry than we sadly have here. Karlsson should pick an instrument and stick with it and spread the load a little, then we will get a bit more variety as the music hints that they would relish a bit more of that interplay between slightly competitive musos, and it’s a common problem when multi-instrumentalists are having to handle too much work. Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should…
Off the bat it looks like it’s going to be yet another pseudo-historical / fantasy concept piece, but the songs are actually a little more allegorical than that, so the titular tyrant king can easily be descriptive of any number of world leaders of today, which is refreshingly subtle and relevant without being in your face. For a power metal record, it doesn’t outstay its welcome either (because let’s face it, most don’t know when to stop), with a brisk forty-one-minute run time, minimal balladic content and a rollocking and relentless galloping pace of delivery. The downside is the songs need a little more complexity, so consequently sound a little samey after a while, but as debut’s go, I’ve heard far worse from the genre from bands who have gone on to become huge, so not bad for a start off.
For me it’s Haraldsson’s vocal performance that steals the thunder, and they’ve wisely put him quite high in the mix where he can roar, scream and soar, but frustratingly most of the back line are playing the same chords so it just sounds like one instrumental sound until they come to the solo breaks and splice it up a little. Add a dedicated keyboard and bass player, and this lot really have potential however. 7/10
Spite – Dedication To Flesh (Rise Records) [Zak Skane]
Spite have been on the moshing/crowd killing raider since their trending debut single Kill Or Be Killed which has been viewed (to the date of this article) 2,069,924 times. In the space of 7 years since the band released their tending single they have come from leaps and strides with three releases of anger filled deathcore meets beatdown E.Ps and albums Spite, The Root Of Evil, Nothing More and their new release Dedication To Flesh.
When it comes to opening up a new Spite album I am like a spoilt kid at Christmas, I know what I am going to get, but I am still going to be very satisfied with it. Just like most hardcore influenced bands the opening track Lords Of The Upside Down starts with some gritty bass lines but accompanied with some eerie static soundscapes to get us prepared for a wall low tuned of guitars with their signature jolty riffage whilst the singer Darius Tehrani gives us some of his anger filled guttural gymnastics. Caved In continues this aggression with their deathcore and hardcore mix up with its violently energetic grinding deathmetal riffs and consistent double kick and skank beat grooves melded with two step down beats.
Proper One opens with the bowl rumbling low tuned Meshuggah inspired polyrhythmic grooves with doom impending chromatic structured half time riffs to give the listener this sense of impending doom and anxiety. Made To Please takes the bands sound to a more morbid route with the track containing soundbites of people being tortured….pretending to be hopefully as it fuels the fire of the revengeful lyrics that their Darius is spouting, their other leading single Dedication To The Flesh enhances their Nu-metal inspiration with their bouncy head banging riffs that have been taken out of Slipknot's Iowa songbook whilst containing chant filled grooves, that will please any hard viewing crowd member to join the Spite Cult.
Other highlights on this album is the following track The Most Ugly, which I think is the track that holds for most depth musically with it’s intro consisting of reverbed acoustic guitars accompanied with electric trap beats before that band comes in with some low tempo sludge that has been contracted with expressive chord choices. Son Of Dawn provides some extra exotic rhythm choices to their grooves and well as adding some Slayer sounding guitar solos and their tempo shifting track Hangman that peaks and troughs which can be brutal but nauseating to a casual listener.
Just like AC/DC after they have released Highway To Hell this band have found their strengths very early in their career, including this album, very release has been consistent and enjoyable, even though there were moments in which the band had pushed the boundaries especially on the track The Most Ugly, I would like to see them utilise more of those elements to expand their sound. 8/10.