The Devil Wears Prada have come out with a new EP - playing off their 2010 release ZI surrounding the narrative of a zombie apocalypse the band aimed with their new five track EP to combine both their original heavy metal roots with their more mainstream radio hits like 'Chemical' from their 2019 album 'Acts'. So is ZII s worthy successor to fan favourite ZI, or is it yet another needless zombie sequel?
Let's start by saying this is one of those music projects that you have to really read into to appreciate fully. I wont lie, sitting here I'd only listened to the EP and not researched it, but upon hearing what the band have to say, I've come to appreciate the music a lot more. ZI is a classic, a powerhouse of a record filled with anthems of defiance, how to fend off the apocalypse, but now, these five songs are, as the band described in an interview with Loudwire as 'five songs of hopelessness against the hoard'. Its the band returning to their heavier roots after the mainstream success of 'Acts' which is a brilliant album. If you haven't listened to it and your a fan of new core rock then you'll love it, and even if you aren't I still thoroughly recommend. Now, onto the tracks.
(The Devil Wears Prada 2021 line-up - Image credit KERRANG! 2021)
The opening track, and single from ZII is called 'Nightfall', and its a strong opener to the EP. Its explosive and heavy guitar riff really picks up the track, along with some very impressive drums. Vocals are dynamic, and although somewhat samey as the song continues, the high tension vocalisation of lead singer Mike Hranica creates an edgy atmosphere for the listener. It's also quite atmospheric, with a creeping background riff that you only really begin to notice during quieter moments in the track. What I love about this single is the way it changes throughout. From the hell-bent roaring of the chorus it suddenly changes, becomes rhythmic, with a softer vocal delivery. You can't help but think 'Wait a second, what the fuck is going on here? I strapped myself in for a torrent of rage and suddenly the singer is coming off as kinda withdrawn and hopeless.' Its certainly a track that keeps you on your toes, which is a good thing. However, this comes with a few draw backs. The more shouty verses become more predictable, and seem to loose their impact in later verses, and although the instrumental has a lot of potential, in the tail end of the track the vocal delivery becomes one dimensional. Strong, yes. But the novelty of the delivery wears off quite quickly, no matter how many voices are put behind one another to try and spice it up.
Forlorn, the next track, seems cut from a similar cloth. That's alright, but again its nothing special. The vocal delivery is punchy, and I like the leading riff, with a brilliant instrumental section that made me want to immediately begin headbanging violently with no regard for the safety of those around me. The good thing about Forlorn is that it focuses on the softer vocals a bit more, because after the rollercoaster of Nightfall, I felt as if I needed a bit of calm before the next killer track. However, it seems to be a similar recipe - sure by all means do what works, but if this becomes the theme I'm going to get pretty bored of the project. And then the track changes, and guess what? Termination begins blasting and I didn't even notice. This track has the same thing over again. Driving drum, harsh vocals and then some soft singing over the shouting, and into an instrumental breakdown. Yes, the beat is really strong in this track, and I prefer the more violent tempo, but it seems samey. Then it switched up at the end, adding what seemed to be more of a thrash breakdown mixed with these brilliant, hair raising silences. The song really comes into its own in the latter half, and if it was like this throughout I have a feeling I would have liked it more. This thundering drum and guitar combo is dynamic without having to loose rhythm, and the vocals, although similar to the rest of the track, seem better suited to this sort of style.
Nora caught me completely off guard for all the wrong reasons. Its eerie silence drew me in, with the sudden drums spitting me back out violently. This song is diverse, with similar singing over shouting combos, but it suits this track pretty well. However, I'm running out of things to say because again these tracks sound so similar. Across the four songs there are elements that are pretty key to songs just being copied and pasted into others. This feels like a strange mixture of the last two songs glued badly together. Again, the vocals are agressive, as with the rest of the EP, and the instrumental is good too, but its just same old, same old. Im not feeling as 'on my feet' as i was with Nightfall, because the rest of the songs have been so similar. I went from wanting to headbang, to just want to skip to the end to see if this song changes. This track was the closest i came to skipping a track. I was genuinely bored.
Contagion began and I thought 'Finally! Something different!'. The soft vocal opening filled me with hope as i dreamed of a 'Vermillion Pt.2' esque ending to the project, but then the song broke back into the same clichés it used back in the past few songs. Sure the vocals are sort of different, but it still uses the shouting as undertone. It still leads with the heavy drum and guitar combo, and i found myself not engaging with this track. The climatic ending to the EP was exactly like the last few tracks, the same ingredients. Safe to say, after all that was promised to me, this final track fell seriously short.
(Album cover for ZII - The Devil Wears Prada)
Overall ZII made promises that it definitely couldn't keep. After the initial rollercoaster of Nightfall every song seems to be cut from the same cloth with the same ingredients, similar to my criticism of Twenty One Pilots' 'Scaled and Icy'. This is one of the first albums however, that i sat through completely bored by the time the third track began. The first song held my attention, but the next i lost all interest. I'm a fan of diverse music, that breaks conventions and attempts to be more than it seemingly is, but this is just what it says it is. No issue there, but its the same song copied and pasted, an EP of 'Can I copy your homework?' music. Go listen to 'Acts' again people, and stick with the original, unless you want something to send you to sleep, then find ZII.
Score - 4/10
TL;DR - Although the first track draws the listener in, the rest are dull and samey. This album suffers replication fatigue on the third track, and the next two are a drag to sit through. This EP is far from my favourite, and I expect better from a band with so much potential to create diverse music.
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