The Devil Wears Prada at the Gramercy Theatre

Mike Hranica

The Devil Wears Prada formed as a melodic metalcore band in 2005 in Dayton, Ohio. The band took its name from the novel, although the members did not know the content of the story. Instead, the band members simply appropriated the title to fit their anti-materialistic Christian ethics. The band members insist they did not name the band after the movie of that name, which was released after the band formed. Initially marketed to a Christian audience, The Devil Wears Prada band captured a secular audience by 2007. The Devil Wears Prada currently consists of vocalist Mike Hranica, vocalist/rhythm guitarist Jeremy DePoyster, lead guitarist Kyle Sipress, and bassist Andy Trick. The Devil Wears Prada released its seventh studio album, The Act, on October 11, 2019.

Since its birth and prominence in the early 2000s, metalcore has been rather static. It is a narrow genre that bands typically grow out of rather than stretch the boundaries. The Devil Wears Prada, on the other hand, has been pushing the edges gently but repeatedly, especially in more recent years. At the Gramercy Theatre tonight, enhanced with the aid of touring musicians Jonathan Gering (keyboards, synthesizers) and Giuseppe Capolupo (drums), The Devil Wears Prada's set still spotlighted the hallmarks of metalcore. The band featured the counterbalance of Hranica's death growls with DePoyster's clean vocals, and laced guitar-crunching breakdowns with synths and keyboards, but also introduced elements of post-rock and sludge within its metalcore. While this may not be a monumental shift in the fabric of metalcore, The Devil Wears Prada's expansive sonics may be the only recent evolution in the genre.