Dayton, Ohio metalcore outfit the Devil Wears Prada derived its moniker from the well-known novel and film yet reshaped the reference to align with its rejection of materialism and embrace of Christian principles. Surfacing amid the wave of aggressive metalcore groups that surfaced in the mid-2000s, the band reached a wider non-Christian listenership via the 2007 breakthrough release Plagues, then achieved its strongest commercial results with 2009’s With Roots Above and Branches Below and 2011’s top-selling Dead Throne, both of which led the Billboard Independent Albums chart. Rounding out the 2010s, the group moved into a phase of greater maturity and sonic refinement on 2016’s Transit Blues and 2019’s The Act before launching the following decade with 2022’s Color Decay.
The musicians came together in 2005, featuring vocalist and lyricist Mike Hranica on death-growl vocals, guitarist and clean vocalist Jeremy DePoyster, guitarist Chris Rubey, bassist Andy Trick, keyboardist James Baney, and drummer Daniel Williams. That original roster captured the self-released 2005 demo EP Patterns of a Horizon, issued with individually hand-painted artwork.
After inking a deal in 2006 with Rise, the positive-themed imprint of Victory Records, the Devil Wears Prada delivered Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord that summer. Having moved more than 30,000 copies of their first full-length, the band returned to the studio for 2007’s Plagues, which earned their initial placement on U.S. charts. Two years later With Roots Above and Branches Below arrived, followed in 2010 by the apocalyptic concept EP Zombie. Both of those projects entered the Billboard Top Ten, while the group also became a major concert draw, headlining and selling out its own tours for three consecutive years.
During summer 2011 the band topped the Vans Warped Tour bill ahead of its fourth album, Dead Throne, produced by Killswitch Engage’s Adam Dutkiewicz and issued that September. The record reached number ten on the Billboard 200, the highest rank the group had attained at that point. Their first live album, Dead&Alive, appeared in 2012. Early the next year the Devil Wears Prada commenced work on a fifth studio album alongside producers Matt Goldman of Underoath and Dutkiewicz in an executive capacity; the resulting 8:18 surfaced on Roadrunner in September 2013. Extensive touring in support of that release continued through 2014. In early 2015 founding guitarist Rubey departed and Kyle Sipress stepped in. The band unveiled the space-themed EP Space that summer.
Another personnel shift occurred in 2016 when Williams left on amicable terms. Guiseppe Capolupo, previously of DeMise of Eros and Haste the Day, handled drumming duties for the sessions that produced the sixth album, 2016’s Transit Blues. That release reflected a broadened sonic palette and an evolving musical approach. Capolupo later became a permanent member, as did longtime session contributor Jonathan Gering. The refreshed lineup maintained a comparable direction on the seventh album, The Act, released via Solid State Records. Produced by Gering, the record featured the singles “Chemical” and “Lines of Your Hands.”
Two years afterward the group issued ZII, a direct sequel to the 2010 Zombie EP. The five-track set marked the recording debut of new bassist Mason Nagy and performed strongly on the charts. Across the first half of 2022 the Devil Wears Prada rolled out several singles, among them “Salt” and “Time.” Crafted and tracked in secluded locations across Wisconsin and California, both tracks appeared on the band’s eighth album, Color Decay, issued later that year.
