The Act entwines many different aspects of metal genres to create something unique and intriguing.

Drifting between heavy and light, the album depicts how consuming the dark can be, but also how delicate and beautiful life can be too.

The Devil Wears Prada’s new album The Act opens in a way that was rather unexpected, compared to the singles they have released in the run up to the album. Rather than the more melodic tones the singles had warmed us up for, Switchblade is brutally heavy with deep growls and a very dark tone. This darkness lifts somewhat for next song Lines Of Your Hands where the choruses are slightly more melodic.

Next up is a song fans are probably already familiar with, Chemical. The guitar on this song is incredibly captivating and the lighter feeling of the song is a refreshing change for the band. This track brings something new to the genre of metal, working outside of the constraints put in place by strictly following a specific style of music. Chemical is chill inducing, the beat like a war drum with a sense of purpose to keep going. The lyrics really hit home for me and I’m sure they resonate with a lot of fans too.

Wave Of Youth is full of urgency, the chorus especially. The mixture of heavy, raw and lighter vocals is haunting, the guitar accompanying this feeling perfectly. Please Say No is a much slower, calmer track but it is just as powerful as the more relentless tracks. The Thread swings between light and heavy like drifting between daydream and nightmare, it is very chaotic. Spiderhead concludes the album well, heavy and disjointed, however, the track ends very abruptly which to me came as a surprise after how atmospheric some of the previous songs were.

Overall The Act is a very impressive record with a very abstract take on creating a metal album. The Devil Wears Prada took a chance and it turned out brilliantly.