Screenshot
Album review by Lucas Bell
For a band that is twenty years deep, The Devil Wears Prada continues to surprise. After a change in sound on 2019’s The Act, that continued onto 2022’s The Color Decay, we’ve almost gotten the third piece of the trilogy in the evolution of the metalcore legends. The new album marks the start of an incredibly epic cycle and phase for the band. The global touring scheduling finds The Devil Wears Prada playing some of the biggest shows of their career.
“Flowers is 20 years into a journey,” guitarist Jeremy DePoyster explains. “The highs, the lows, a reckoning with what it means to be a human catapulting through the chaos that life throws at us continually. This is us at our peak, in songwriting, in raw and authentic lyricism and introspection, and a desperate attempt to connect with anyone else who feels the same way that we do.”
Song Breakdowns
That Same Place – A short and sweet intro track, with some dialogue to open and close out the sixty seconds. The instrumental swells underneath, almost presenting the record as a cinematic story, about to unfold.
Where the Flowers Never Grow – The song which the album takes its title opens the record with a huge sound, and a deep message. Speaking with New Noise Magazine, DePoyster said that the song is “the realization that no matter how good things get from the outside, there is still a place of darkness in our minds… the place where flowers never grow.” And it’s truly a deeply painful song, but beautiful because of the hurt behind it.
Everybody Knows – If you’ve managed to catch my interview with Mike and Jeremy last month when they were here opening for Bullet for My Valentine, I mentioned this track specifically as a favourite. And it continues to grow in my heart as one of the best tracks so far this year. The song feels purposefully restrained, but passionate in its vocal delivery, as vocalist Mike Hranica and DePoyster vocally dual throughout the song. One of the album highlights for sure.
So Low – Continuing the vibes from ‘Where the Flowers Never Grow’ and ‘Everybody Knows’, ‘So Low’ really set the tone for what kind of record this is. Everything since ‘The Act’ has felt like a growth and maturity in the songwriting, and ‘So Low’ really shows that growth in the sound.
For You – The big ballad of the record. This song just hits. Lyrically beautiful, and stirring in its instrumentation. A song many might not have thought Prada could be capable of, but a song I’m glad exists within the pantheon of the band. Can see this being the wedding song for metalcore kids over the next five years.
All Out – Out the gate, the intro for this track rips. Diving back into the heavier song for a track after three really pulled back tracks, feels like a bit of whiplash, but it’s a reminder that while the band is in a new era, the old sounds will always creep in when they are appropriate.
Ritual – The oldest song on the record, this track has been around since at least the Alpha Wolf tour in June 2024. It almost feels like a b-side to The Color Decay, but feels like a level of connective tissue between the records. Just as good within the context of the record, as it has been for the last year plus outside of it.
When You’re Gone – I enjoy this song, but it’s the one song on the record I feel has better moments where there are no lyrics over the top. It will make sense when the song drops what I mean, but if there was a song of the instrumental parts where no lyrics existed, I feel I would love the song even more. But lyrically, the song definitely feels like a fitting tribute to the band’s former drummer, Daniel Williams, who passed away earlier this year.
The Sky Behind The Rain – The title of this track is referenced in ‘When You’re Gone’. The voice from earlier returns to talk to us, almost signifying the halfway point of the record.
CHECK OUT OUR INTERVIEW WITH THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA HERE
The Silence – There almost feels like a lo-fi electronic vibe to this track, as DePoyster sings with Hranica’s undercurrent of screams that breathe more life into the vocals. It has definitely been a grower on me the more I listen to the song though.
Eyes – The lo fi beats continue on into ‘Eyes’, but they don’t stick around long as the pre-chorus builds into drums and bass kicking in. Then, the chorus just goes all in back into the loudness. The mini solo after the chorus rules too. The last forty seconds of this track slam too. Big bold ending, and the instrumental is my favourite part of this song.
Cure Me – Stripping back to a quieter sound seems to the be the vibe after ‘The Sky Behind The Rain’, but this has the loudest and most fun chorus on the back half of the record. It’s definitely my favourite of the choruses. It’s fun and bouncy, and while the rest of the song isn’t, I look forward to getting to the chorus just to bop my head.
Wave – I’m going to be honest. This song isn’t going to be for everyone. But this is the song I am most excited to see live. Something about an entire venue with Hranica and DePoyster on stage, singing this with people around me singing just as loud gets me crazy emotional. And the sudden end of the song, almost giving a lack of closure, hurts. But I love that it makes me feel something.
My Paradise – In my conversation with Hranica and DePoyster, I also brought up ‘My Paradise’, and the similarities it holds to the song ‘Reasons’ that they did with EDM producer Excision. The trap beat on the intro is cool, and rounds out the sound of the record on the last chance it gets. Another one of my favourites, and an amazing song to close out a beautiful journey.
Final Thoughts
Flowers is a record that upon first listen, surprised me quite a lot as a long time fan of the band. I used to be in the pit for tracks like ‘Hey John’, ‘What’s Your Name Again’, ‘HTML Rulez D00d’, ‘Assistant to the Regional Manage’r, and ‘Dez Moines’ whenever they came into town. But this is a band that I feel has matured with myself, and my musical tastes, in real time.
As someone who can appreciate the older tunes, the growth and maturity at which Hranica and DePoyster in the lyrics, and the creative drives Giuseppe Capolupo and Jonathan Gering have added since joining the band full time in 2019 for The Act and beyond, show this band is more than just slams and breakdowns. There is nuance, heart, and soul. While the record won’t be for everyone, it’s for me, in a time that I need it. It might be hard for some to accept, but gone are the days of the Plagues and Roots Above eras. The Flowers era is in full bloom.
Score – 8/10
Album Highlights – Everybody Knows, My Paradise, All Out
