THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Flowers
SOLID STATE
Metalcore stalwarts take a turn to the sunny side
After 20 years, metalcore titans The Devil Wears Prada have stepped out of the doom and gloom and into the sunlight. Flowers blooms with pop-punk sensibilities that might make the typical Hammer reader’s blood run cold – but, boy, do they pull it off. As the sun-kissed punch of Where The Flowers Never Grow asserts, this record is a ‘goodbye to who I used to be’, interweaving gritty breakdowns and gutturals with Slam Dunk-worthy hooks and singalongs. It’s a technicolour balancing act of soul-searching and sonic revelations, from So Low’s tightrope of pop punk and blistering post-hardcore to scratching that metalcore itch on All Out. As the bright, buoyant flow of Ritual alludes to, Flowers is a vital pivot from misery, breaking out of a decades-long routine for something fresh. Good for them! ■■■■■■■■■■