Genre : Metalcore
Released : May 21st, 2021
Label : Solid State Records
FFO : Code Orange, Underoath, Of Mice & Men, Northlane
The Devil Wears Prada's 2010 "Zombie" EP is such a beloved piece of metalcore and one of my personal favourites from that era of the genre, even to this day.
Needless to say I was really excited, albeit slightly worried to see a sequel to this timeless metalcore gem.
Although it continues the narrative of its older brother, given that the cultural craze for zombie-themed media has died down (the current state of the once beloved AMC TV show "The Walking Dead" says it all), the zombie apocalypse clichés have been replaced by the "forlorn" (I had to, sorry) desperation of a pandemic-ridden world.
Which does not deviate the narrative from its main thematic, instead offering a more mature approach in touch with its times.
And the same could be said in regards to the music itself on this EP, which displays how much the band has grown and evolved over the past 10 years.
Delivering some of its best material by combining elements of what made the band unique and interesting in the first place with the more experimental and reflective style of writing found on "The Act"; TDWP were able to balance out the old and the new, sounding as crushing as ever with the beefier style of contemporary production.
I'm a bit bothered by simply labeling this as "metalcore" since it carries that not-so-flattering association with Warped Tour-core melodic metalcore bands and what "Z II" has to offer is light-years beyond that.
It's heavy, it's fun, the songwriting never gets predictable but is also not too "out there" so that you can instantly jam along to it and have a good time.
I'm just really happy this didn't turn out to be an attempt to capitalize on past success and instead proves how TDWP continue to make their brand of metalcore interesting and relevant to this day and only keep getting better with age, which is not something that can be said about some of their peers from that same era.
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