This is a guest review by Mike Houck of the Mount Vernon, Ohio based metalcore band Bear Your Cross.

It’s no secret amongst anyone that knows me that I’ve been a longtime fan-boy of The Devil Wears Prada. With Roots Above and Branches Below was the very first metalcore album I bought when it dropped back in 2009 while I was in high school, and they’ve been one of my favorite bands since my early days of dabbling in playing music. Over the years, I’ve had many friends lose interest in the band as they progressed with each album due to the change of sound and writing style. Maybe I’m a little biased since I’ve closely followed the band with their last 3 full length albums and two EP’s, but I found Transit Blues to be a refreshing listen.

Right off the bat with looking at the track list and times, the first half of are very short, and often songs would stop abruptly. When they dropped “Daughter” as the first single, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little taken back that they dropped such a short song (clocking in as the second shortest song on the album behind Detroit Tapes).  After a few listens, it really grew on me as the new direction TDWP was headed. The mixture between Kyle and Jeremy’s driving guitar riffs, along with the keys provided by Jon made for a very bouncy tune. What I was very critical of the first few listens was having Giuseppe Capolupo recording the drums on the record, which I feel he absolutely nailed after hearing the record and seeing him play their older songs live.

Things start to slow down once we reach the second half of the record with songs like “To The Key of Evergreen”, which is the longest song at five minutes. The song has a very driving intro that keeps constant until a tempo change into the first chorus. After another verse we head into something a bit new for TDWP, which is almost a solid two minutes of ambience.  The song ends with the outcry of “My lovely…you’ll be safe to rest your eyes”. Often times throughout the album I find a repeating sense of anxiety, and to me this particular song really spoke out in the sense of trying to maintain a sense of solace for someone who may very well be experiencing some form of anxiety. Whether or not that is one of the intended takes on the song is up to the listener I suppose, but I find a lot of comfort in a song like that.

The title track “Transit Blues” is strangely enough my favorite song on the record. Maybe it was sitting through ten other tracks that pounded different views on topics of anxiety and traveling, but it seems that TDWP always seems to take a topic, whether it be losing/finding love, or even missing home, and completely hitting the nail on the head. “You can’t feel the transit blues without losing something you thought was true” is a line that has been repeating in my head over and over ever since I first sat down and listened to the record as the twinkling melody of the last song faded out. I’ve always found myself fascinated by Mike’s lyricism and writing styles, and after reading up on interview after interview, the idea of not having control 24/7 and even feeling distanced while near home becomes very evident throughout the record as a whole.

Putting bias aside, I think the band has really honed in on a new direction and structure that they can maintain, while still keeping the initial heaviness they’ve always had. Despite this record being the second shortest full length, it leaves me very fulfilled after every listen. One of the biggest critiques I always hear about anything from “8:18” and on is the multiple lineup changes in the past year or two, and I feel that Transit Blues was really able to demonstrate each members writing capabilities.

Score: 4/5