Back in the early 2010s, when Skrillex — a post-hardcore frontman-turned-electronic producer — launched dubstep into the mainstream, there was a good bit of crossover between the heavy, headbang-able form of electronic music and metalcore. Attack Attack!, Asking Alexandria and Bring Me the Horizon each released wub-filled remixes of their breakdown-heavy songs, and of course, Korn collaborated with several big-name dubstep producers (including Skrillex himself) on their polarizing 2011 album, the Path of Totality.
One of the electronic musicians who appeared on that album was Canadian producer Excision, who later teamed with post-hardcore titans I Prevail for a dubstep crossover in 2020. Now, he and frequent collaborator Wooli have paired with Ohio metalcore vets the Devil Wears Prada for a new track called "Reasons"
Like most songs in the canon of dubstep-metalcore hybrids, this one splits the difference between the Devil Wears Prada's usual sound — ethereal clean choruses, screamed verses and clobbering breakdowns — and the typical structure of a pop-oriented dubstep song. Prada co-vocalist Jeremy DePoyster offers a melancholic croon that builds to a supple bass drop, only to morph into metalcore with Mike Hranica's screams and ultimately commence with a filthy, wobbling dubstep drop.
Check out "Reasons" above via YouTube.
"When Excision and Wooli approached us about working together on a song, we were so stoked for the opportunity to dive into uncharted territory for the Devil Wears Prada," the band said in a press statement. "It was fun injecting the lyrical and musical flavors from [the 2022 album] Color Decay onto an EDM track, and the emotional and aggressive nature of our sound fit perfectly with their mastery of modern bass music."
