The Devil Wears Prada

Mystifyingly taking their name from a popular chick lit bestseller, the Devil Wears Prada is easily one of the most bizarrely named bands of their time. Since the group is a Christian metalcore act from Dayton, Ohio, one assumes that the band name was chosen not because the sextet is a foe of former Vogue editor Anna Wintour, but metaphorically, as in "the devil is a deceptively appealing figure." The Devil Wears Prada formed in 2005, consisting of singer and lyricist Mike Hranica (who handles the death growl vocals), guitarist and vocalist Jeremy DePoyster (who does the clean vocals), guitarist Chris Rubey, bassist Andy Trick, keyboardist James Baney, and drummer Daniel Williams. This lineup recorded the 2005 EP Patterns of a Horizon, which was self-released with individual hand-painted covers. Signing to Victory Records' positive-themed subsidiary Rise Records, the Devil Wears Prada released Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord in the summer of 2006. After selling more than 30,000 units of their debut, they went back to the studio and began plugging away on 2007's Plagues. With Roots Above and Branches Below followed two years later in 2009. They followed it with a concept EP about the apocalypse titled Zombie in 2010. Both of these latter releases debuted in the Billboard Top Ten; the band was also a star live attraction, they headlined -- and sold out -- their own tours for three years running. In the summer of 2011, they headlined the Van's Warped Tour as a precursor to the release of the band's fourth album, Dead Throne, which was produced by Killswitch Engage's Adam Dutkiewicz and released in September of that year. Hranica and Rubey also have an experimental grindcore side project band called xGUMBYx. ~ Stewart Mason, Rovi