The Devil Wears Prada - Zombie EP

The Devil Wears Prada
Zombie EP
Ferret
A-





Concept albums are usually hit or miss. Sometimes they have an intricate storyline that beckons an intense following over the story (Coheed & Cambria), while other times the concept isn’t quite as firm, yet it expands across a common ground (Horse The Band). Zombie EP certainly falls into the latter, pushing The Devil Wears Prada into undeniably heavier territory than even their previous full-length With Roots Above And Branches Below without sacrificing any of their songwriting muscle in the process. In its short running time, this EP only continues to build the resume of one of the heaviest hitters in metalcore today.

From the opening fury of “Escape”, you’ll find this is not only a heavier sound for the band, but a faster one at that. The song peaks at a moment where crunching guitars, bellowing vocals and air-raid sirens make one of the more potent breakdowns of the disc. Lead single “Outnumbered” gets your juices flowing with an unrelenting rhythmic assault, matching the intensity across the board with fluid drumming and deep growls. The odd track of the bunch, closer “Survive” sludges in mid-tempo territory with more of a focus on atmosphere and tension, making it a wonderful closer. In any case, you truly feel like you are outrunning and decimating the undead while jamming this disc.

Lyrically, the songs pretty much follow their titles as it outlines the stages of the zombie apocalypse. While it might rub off as too straightforward in terms of telling us the story, it certainly gets the concept across without being overly cheesy. You can’t deny the band planned out the presentation of this EP thoroughly, as they add in interesting sound effect quirks (sirens, chainsaw, gunshots, emergency transmission) to aid in the flow from track to track. They even had a comic book to go along with the EP.

In all honesty, the only complaint you’ll hear from me on this album is in the length. Sure, it might have been difficult to push this into full-length territory, but an extra song or two wouldn’t have hurt. Even with toned down melodies and more of a focus on flat-out br00t4l breakdowns, this EP is sure to keep you on your toes – even if you aren’t outrunning zombies.