The Devil Wears Prada
Wednesday, April 4, the Loft, 6 pm. All Ages
In the niche genre of metalcore ' a style that blends heavy metal and hardcore punk ' a growing number of Christian bands are gaining a loyal following. A tool of testimony in this musical worship is the Fox-owned social network site MySpace.com.
Notable Christian metalcore bands include San Diego's As I Lay Dying, Georgia's Norma Jean, Pennsylvania's August Burns Red and, more recently, the Devil Wears Prada, a six-piece band out of Dayton, Ohio.
Formed in 2005, the Devil Wears Prada's signature sound is built on the contrast between Mike Hranica's dissonant screamo and softer, melodic breakdowns, punctuated by James Baney's synth. The band has released Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord on the indie label Rise Records, out of Roseburg, Ore.
Contradictions of sound and ideas lie at the heart of Christian metalcore. The subgenre explores messages of faithfulness and spiritual purity amid brutal distortion and growling vocals.
But the nonconformist, anti-material world view of hardcore punk is consistent with the messages of Christian metalcore bands. Like a lot of secular hardcore musicians, the Devil Wears Prada tells stories about the fight against oppression and the forces of evil.
The tension between the Devil Wears Prada's music and lyrics underscores the idea of defeating evil, especially evil that casts itself in the form of personal temptations. 'Your beauty is found to be nothing, nothing but true revulsion, and that's the only true thing about you,' Hranica sings on 'Rosemary Had an Accident.'
The song concludes with the kind of unsubtle religious verses that appeal to the band's young fans: 'Christ stands still perfect in my mind/Christ stands still perfect in my heart/Jesus is the beautiful structure of love.'
'There is nothing we love more than glorifying Him by playing shows for you guys,' writes guitarist Jeremy DePosyter to fans on the Devil Wears Prada's MySpace blog.
'I love you guys, too,' replied one fan. 'And thank God there are bands like you guys that actually mean what they say about our Savior.'
