The Devil Wears Prada – Flowers (Solid State Records) [Spike]
This is not a funeral; it is a blooming in the wreckage. Two decades into their existence, The Devil Wears Prada has delivered Flowers, an album that functions less like a standard metalcore release and more like a cinematic survival record. This is the sound of a band that has outlasted the scene, the wars, and the trends, only to emerge with an introspective masterpiece that trades irony for absolute, crushing emotional honesty.
The sonic architecture of Flowers is built on a foundation of pulsing electronics and atmospheric dread, punctuated by sudden, violent bursts of distortion. Produced with a deliberate sense of humanness and imperfection, the record feels alive—breathing through the heavy industrial textures of So Low and the eerie stillness of the opener That Same Place. This is metalcore that has finally learned how to age without losing its teeth, blending faith, confusion, and aggression into a singular, haunting narrative.
The emotional heavy lifting is done through a constant dual between Mike Hranica’s scorched-earth screams and Jeremy DePoyster’s ethereal cleans. Where The Flowers Never Grow serves as a staggering realization of inner darkness, featuring massive melodic hooks that collide with the band's heavier roots. Meanwhile, the big ballad For You is a masterclass in stirring instrumentation and self-sacrifice, likely to become the definitive anthem for a new generation of metalcore devotees.
Prada hasn't forgotten how to inflict physical damage, though. All Out is a frantic, high-intensity sprint that invokes the ghost of 8:18, launching into blast beats and chugging riffs that hit like a physical weight between the ears. It’s a necessary moment of whiplash before the record descends back into the lo-fi, hypnotic cycles of The Silence and the closing calm of My Paradise. The track Ritual, a connective tissue between this and Color Decay, proves that their creative evolution is an unbroken, calculated path toward total sonic immersion.
Flowers is TDWP at their most ambitious and vulnerable. It is a record of continuity and grit, proving that you can plant something beautiful even in the most caustic soil. They aren't chasing the next big thing anymore; they are the mountain that the next thing has to climb. 9/10
Finger Eleven - Last Night On Earth (Better Noise Music) [Matt Bladen]
Last Night On Earth is the first album in a decade for Finger Eleven. The Canadian band spent the last year on tour with Creed as part of their Summer Of '99 tour, which has clearly twitched their creative muscles as they now deliver their debut for Better Noise Music.
Kicking off with the thumping Adrenaline, it's clear Finger Eleven are back in business with their swaggering brand of multi-faceted heavy rock which puts alt-rock/post-grunge alongside a strong leaning on prog where Pink Floyd and Genesis are also influences, having covered the former on their 2023 Greatest Hits. The record feels like the band reconnecting with their roots but with the skill they have acquired over 30 years of performing.
Blue Sky Mystery features Richard Patrick of Filter another band who are celebrating their 30th Anniversary, while their keen ear for anthemic balladry comes with the the acoustics and strings of Last Night On Earth and the piano driven Wall Dogs. Perfect Effigy has some massive alt rock riffs as Laughing At The Stone brings that slow burning power while Body And Mind has those Pink Floyd guitar moments.
So Finger Eleven return with another record that stays true to their early days but also has them embracing their influences. 8/10
Dead And Dripping – Nefarious Scintillations (Transcending Obscurity Records) [Spike]
This is not a listening experience; it is a consensual abduction into a subterranean torture chamber. Dead And Dripping, the one-man brutal/technical death metal entity from New Jersey helmed by Evan Daniele, has returned with Nefarious Scintillations. This album is a masterclass in disorienting, acid-tripped filth that makes standard tech-death sound like it’s still playing with building blocks.
The sound is a kaleidoscopic nightmare of pummelling riffs and mind-boggling technicality. It is incredibly complex and meticulous, channelling the otherworldly rot of Demilich and the cosmic dread of Timeghoul, then slathering it in a layer of modern, physically punishing brutality. The production strikes a perfect balance: it’s raw enough to feel dangerous, but polished enough to let the "Seinfeld-on-LSD" bass pops and slaps cut through the miasma.
Daniele’s vocal approach remains one of the most polarizing and effective weapons in the underground. These are deep, "froggy" gutturals, a rhythmic series of burps and belches that sound less like human speech and more like an ancient bog spirit drowning in its own bile. On tracks like Nefariously Scintillating Through Vacant Galactic Reservoirs and the nine-minute behemoth Swollen Torsos Adorned with Pustulating Hexagonal Crania, the vocals act as a percussive texture, weaving through the jagged, avant-garde guitar work.
The songwriting is surprisingly expansive, with Dead And Dripping proving they have the chops for long-form compositions that don't just repeat; they evolve. Horrifying Glimpses Of Inconceivably Demented Cityscapes showcases laser-precise, rapid-fire drumming and a relentless miasma of riffs that shift into rocking, slow grooves. It’s an outlandish, surreal trip across dimensions that rewards the listener for having the mental fortitude to endure it.
Nefarious Scintillations is a tour-de-force for the style and a testament to the dedication of one-man projects in extreme metal. It is bizarre, unique, and stupidly heavy—exactly what you want when you need your brain to feel like it’s being systematically dismantled by a celestial grinder. 8/10
Still In Love - Recovery Language (Church Road Records) [Matt Bladen]
Containing members of UKHC crews, Dead Swans, Throats, Brutality Will Prevail, Last Witness and Bring Me The Horizon, Recovery Language is the debut album from Still In Love, released through Church Road Records, the follow up to Withdrawal Symptoms, sees the band continuing to carve a path in the UK hardcore scene with aggressive but cathartic music, the aggression coming in fast and vicious on Inherit and You Have To Let It Go.
Inspired by personal struggles and the human experience, it's a personal EP where the songs are all ways to make sense of the world, Tell The Truth begins in earnest, a dramatic build that moves it's way into the ferocious speed of Nervous Impulse, both showing off their hardcore instincts with both an aggression and a move towards the anthemic, as Sam Carter of Architects joins for Preserve & Cherish.
Still In Love speak their Recovery Language loudly and clearly with this second album. 7/10
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