The Devil Wears Prada Album: “With Roots Above and Branches Below [Bonus DVD]”

I first started listening to these guys after I saw them live with Killswitch Engage. I have to say at first I was kind of thrown off with their style. It was a little to brutal for me. I'm in to heavy stuff but, it was just too much I guess. Anyways I kept on listening and this album grew on me so much. An ENTIRE album that I used to think "meh", I now have 100% respect for. Everything from beginning to end.

As a drummer I have infinite respect for the musicianship in this band. They are all incredible with their instruments. I can't say much more except go get yourself a copy. My opinion, this is their best work. Ben Has a Kid = the song that got me hooked. Sassafras, Assistant to the Regional Manager, I Hate Buffering are all AMAZING as well. As far as lyrics go they are obviously very religious. But don't let that push you away. At first I didn't like bands that were labeled "Christian". But I think most Christian metal bands deliver a message that can appeal to a wide range of people/religions. And not all of their songs are about religion. Take "I Hate Buffering". Well I'll let you look up the lyrics. But he basically talks about how so many bands don't have a message, they just want to get rich and write songs that don't mean anything. Anyway, check these guys out, you won't regret it.

Last year on the Warped Tour, the Dayton, OH, Underoath/Still Remains influenced metal band, The Devil Wears Prada, caught many eyes and ears. This year they'll do it again, only this time with songs from their newest album, With Roots Above And Branches Below. They are sure to catch even more eyes and ears (as they did mine with their song "Hey John, What's Your Name Again?" from their last album) with this heavy new material.

The album explodes into existence through the song, "Sassafras", staying true to TDWP form. The keyboard in this song give it a more melodic feel than an average metal song, and Jeremy DePoyster's crystal-clear vocals near the end add to that feel. "I Hate Buffering", the album's next track, has a great lead guitar that keeps it heavy throughout the song's three minutes, and as with any song with Jeremy's vocals, it has that extra touch that gives it near perfection. Songs like "Dez Moines", "Danger: Wildman", and "Ben Has A Kid" display Jeremy's vocals more, while keeping the song hard. "Danger: Wildman" has a really sick guitar part in the song, but before the end the song it slows down shortly and there is a completely amazing violin piece, shortly followed by DePoyster declaring "All of love can be traced to a Maker". It's very refreshing to know a band can be unbelievably heavy and be rising in popularity and still acknowledge God in their music. The next song, "Ben Has A Kid", has the same kind of lyrics when they say "Beyond this world is worth dying for." "Louder Than Thunder" proved me wrong when I thought TDWP could never be soft. I was very wrong. "Louder Than Thunder" is not only the album's softest song, but there is zero screaming, and there is nothing hard about the song. The piano is very eerily beautiful and matches the lyrics very well. It's definitely a big difference for TDWP, let alone this album.

So, The Devil Wears Prada has done it again. It would be nice if they could maybe balance out the screaming and the singing a little bit more. Mike Hranica's powerful screaming and the addition of "Louder Than Thunder" proves that TDWP has matured a lot since their sophomore album. This will be a very successful year for them as they set out on the Warped Tour once again.

My personal favorite from The Devil Wears Prada. You can hear the maturity from the drummer, and the screams and vocals are very well balanced and memorable! These guys put on a great live show as well.

Quite possibly the best album ever recorded. All songs range from very good to perfect. The improvement from the previous albums these guys released is astonishing.

I heard this band and after a year i finally bought the cd because the songs were still awesome! Its like rock/metalcore/screamo/ and just a little bit of techno. if you like metal core you will like this! theres awesome guitars and drums!