Hear Devil Wears Prada's Crushing New Rager "Sacrifice"

Plus, a Q&A with frontman Mike Hranica on band's decision to go heavier than ever

The Devil Wears Prada diehards, visit Revolver's shop for an "olive green" vinyl variant of the hard-to-find ZII EP, as well as a limited-edition autographed and numbered poster.

Let's be clear: We're here for this new phase of the Devil Wears Prada. As one of the torchbearers of Aughts metalcore, they've made albums you ought to own, and expanded their sound greatly over the past couple records with more dynamic atmospherics, keys and spoken passages. Many 'core artists have faded away over the decades, but not TDWP. To the contrary, since they started dropping songs and visuals earlier this year for the ZII EP (which Revolver named one of 2021's Best Albums So Far), the band has seemingly been getting more invigorated. Each single drop after another — no doubt inspired by the pandemic — has been even more crushing and brutal than the last.

And they're not done yet. Today (September 29th), TDWP have teamed up with Revolver to premiere a brand new rager in line with their ferocious recent approach. Check out "Sacrifice" above and stay tuned for the uncompromising sludge breakdown at the end. Below, frontman Mike Hranica discusses the new material, the key to vocal balance and the lyrical nature of the new song.

A LOT OF METALCORE VETERANS, AS THEY GET FURTHER ALONG IN THEIR CAREERS, SEEM TO LOSE TOUCH WITH WHAT MADE THEM "HEAVY" IN THE FIRST PLACE. IN CONTRAST, WITH ZII AND "SACRIFICE," YOU GUYS ARE MAKING SOME OF YOUR HEAVIEST MUSIC YET. WHAT SPARKED THIS MUSICAL DIRECTION?
MIKE HRANICA That is certainly true, but Prada has simply operated on our own, sonically. As long as we're around, we're going to do songs like "Chemical" and then write songs like what make up ZII. I guess what sparks our direction is just that we do what we want. There's too much we can mess with to keep on writing the same material over and over.

IN ADDITION, THE BAND ISN'T SPRINKLING IN "CLEAN" VOCALS ALL THE TIME. WHAT'S THE KEY TO BALANCING BOTH TYPES OF VOCALS BECAUSE YOU'VE OBVIOUSLY UNLOCKED SOMETHING?
The key is Jon [Gering, keys, programming]: As we've moved along and Jon has strong-armed our songs from a production standpoint, he directs and guides every component to our tunes, and that certainly includes what Jeremy [DePoyster, guitar, vocals] and I are doing vocally. He has an exceptional ear, and I very much enjoy working with him on the band's lyrics and vocal arrangements.

BECAUSE PEOPLE WILL ASK — HAS YOUR NEW LINEUP CAUSED THIS TURN IN SOUND OR, LIKE, PUT YOU ON ONE LINEAR PATH?
I don't know that it's so much the lineup changes that have solidified the path we're on, but more so the fact that Jeremy, Kyle [Sipress, guitar], and Jon are more locked in than they have ever been, at least from my perspective. The lineup is hellbent, whether that's reflective on lineup changes or not, I'm not sure.

YOU'RE GIVING IT YOUR ABSOLUTE ALL, VOCALLY. LYRICALLY, SOME TOPICS CAN ONLY BE DELIVERED WITH THAT KIND OF FORCE. WITH ZII AND "SACRIFICE," WHAT DID YOU WANT TO SAY?
Things have felt so hopeless the last year and a half, which is a very obvious thing to say with the pandemic. In terms of "Sacrifice," I've gone through some major changes in personal regards this year, and the new tune plays to the defeatist nature of what I've gone through. With the world as it's been, I just haven't had anything upbeat or optimistic to say.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA?
2022 is going to be busy, and reasonably so after we've felt so suffocated throughout the course of COVID. Not to play the usual, prototypical "teaser" wording, but we will have much to share sooner than later. We'll be on tour with We Came as Romans soon — check dates online and come on out. Follow the socials as we'll have more to share soon!