Customer Reviews

With Roots Above and Branches Below

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

This band has gone from good to great! The album Plagues was an amazing album with the hit single "Hey John, What's Your Name Again? Even the other songs that are not singles are amazing. Mike uses low growls and high pitched shrieks and Jeremy really goes all out with his amazing melodic vocals. The guitars are really getting a lot better and coming up with catchy riffs and breakdowns! I'd say the only disappoinment that I would say is its better to listen to them in the studio than live. I highly reccomend these songs

Sassafras
Big Wiggly Style
Danger: Wildman
Wapakalypse
Dez Moines
Louder Than Thunder (Its not metal but its still good)

.......if your a fan ull love this album :)

With Roots Above and Brachnes Below by The Devil Wears Prada is a logical step from their previous release "Plagues." The music isn't groundbreaking in it's differences, but the band definately explore some new territory. One song in particular has no screaming and is almost experimental sounding. The guitars really stand out on this one.

The Devil Wears Prada as a band do a lot of things well on this album. As they state in the bonus footage on the DVD this CD, it takes the instrumenation to a more technical place and goes a little bit away from the noisiness of Plagues. The drumming is almost mechanical, and the hooks in the guitar are incredible on songs like "Assistant to the Regional Manager" and "Gimme Half." Some of these songs I could play over and over because of the incredible musicianship.

I do feel they got away from the hookiness a little bit in the vocals, but the breakdowns and pummeling riffs on guitar and drums make this still a great album. Overall, if you liked "Plagues" this CD should be owned.

Love this CD. I actually gave it to a friend for her birthday but I downloaded it from Itunes. A great mix of Metal, keys, and sound effects all harmonizing with Jeremy's smooth vocals. Some great stuff here but I'm torn between this album and "Plagues", their previous. There's so many good songs on each album that your better off with both.

If you don't have Itunes to demo 30 seconds of each song, you can listen to all of them on youtube. Of course it is not the best quality but you can get an idea of the music before you buy. I had a playlist set up in youtube to play through the songs and eventually got fed up with it and just went out and bought the songs. Best music out there!

After listening to this new album, I must say it still has some awesome melodies woven into many songs, but I was disappointed to see that the songs have a much more scream-focused vocal approach this time. I thought the balance on Plagues was better. I still say a good buy for fans of The Devil Wears Prada.

Sounds like Protest the Hero and Between the Buried and Me had a kid. A band that doesn't take anything too seriously, while remaining technical and energetic.

This is my first DWP album, and after listening to some samples and myspace songs I decided to take the plunge. After several listen-throughs I can't say I'm excited about it, but I can't condemn it either.

The Good:
I like the music. The riffs are catchy and heavy, full of bass, not too thrashy. There are no crazy guitar solos. The production is good and the music generally sounds full and heavy - just how I like my metal to sound. There's some synth notes added as well here and there which are well done also. I typically don't pay too much attention to lyrics, but nothing really stands out in my memory as being particularly profound or stupid.

The Bad:
The vocals. Let me start off by saying that I generally hate "clean" vocals in metal, with a few very rare exceptions. So it's no surprise that I'm not blown away by the vocals here. In case you're not familiar, there are two vocalists in the band. One does growl/scream vocals, and the other does "clean" singish vocals. The growly guy is fine, he has two tones; a higher scream and a lower growl. The other guy kinda ruins it for me though. He sings(using the term loosely) but he has literally like four different notes. His vocals sound same in every song because there are only so many combinations you can make out of a four-note repertoire.
Also, the songs seem very formulaic. The music crunches, the growly guy growls, then the clean guy sings the same four notes. Repeat. That's fine I guess if you like the formula, but I get a little bored.

Overall it's kind of a wash for me. The songs aren't bad but I can't get into them much either.