Reviewing any Protest
the Hero album is a near impossible task, but I’m going to try it anyway.
Anybody who has listened to a Protest the Hero album hopefully knows what I
mean. The entire “mathcore” movement is a heck of a subgenre but Protest the
Hero is in their own league. “Mathcore,” for those who don’t know, is a
subgenre of progressive metal that essentially requires some of the most tightly
and precise playing of instruments out of any genre. It has odd time signatures
and out of the ordinary music breaks, just like general progressive metal, only
the intensity and complexity is raised through the roof.
Protest the
Hero are different from fellow “mathcore” bands, most notably The Dillinger Escape Plan, because
there isn’t as much hardcore punk influence in their sound. Vocalist Rody Walker’s undeniably distinctive
voice was something special right from the band’s debut, Kezia, when he mixed elements of screaming and singing well in front
of layers upon layers of guitars and drums.
Protest the
Hero has recently released their fourth album, Volition. Much like their previous
albums, this album has changes in song writing that differentiate it well from
the previous three albums. Much like their previous album, Scurrilous, the song structures aren’t as all over the place. The
album’s opener, Clarity, manages to
stick through roughly the same structure throughout the first three or so
minutes, waiting until the end to change progressions; nothing completely out
of the ordinary, especially for a band such as Protest the Hero, who are
transitioning well into the frontrunners of progressive rock.
Drumhead
Trial picks up in intensity to the top speed metal that Protest the Hero have shown they’re capable of time and time again. While musically
the song goes through its changes, the drum beat stays roughly the same, save
for a few points of the song. Lamb of
God’s Chris Adler stood in
behind the set for Volition in the
absence of the bands departed original drummer Moe Carlson and did a terrific job at coming in to a progressive
metal environment such as this (as opposed to the groove metal drumming he is
best known for playing). With an album as filled with great musical talent coming
from all members, this song is Chris Adler’s highlight on the album.
In fact, I’m not going to waste more of your time with the
rest of the songs. I’ll just get straight to the point. With Protest the Hero’s third album, Scurrilous, the band tried to become
more or less just a progressive metal band and less so a “mathcore” band, with
a maturing sense of song writing and all around intelligence. While they
definitely succeeded in changing their identity, their effort could have been slightly
better. While that album has its moments, I’m not sure I’d classify it as their
best. However, with Volition, I feel
they released the album that they intended to release with Scurrilous. They
simplified things slightly more than they did on Scurrilous, but still managed
to turn up the intensity on tracks such as A
Life Embossed.
An interesting fact about this album, for those who don’t
know, is that the album was completely funded by the bands fans. Protest the
Hero were tired of relying on other people’s money to record albums, only to
have those people tell the band what to do. Anyone who knows the music business
well enough to know how albums are made will know what I mean. So instead, the
band put up a fundraiser for fans to donate money toward the new album and give
the band free say in everything they do on the album. The result is, what I
would consider, the bands finest album to date.
The bands future is as bright as ever. They are already an
internationally renowned metal band. Hard to believe that not ten years ago they
were once a band from Whitby, Ontario, not too far from where I live, making
their rounds in the Toronto area. Protest the Hero has changed standards for
progressive metal by doing things their way, and they continue to show they won’t
stop any time soon.
I
have decided, for the first time ever, to not choose a highlight. There isn’t
one song on their album that best exemplifies the album as a whole. Some songs
may have similar aspects, but every song is just too different. I could make
suggestions though, such as the previously mentioned Clarity and Drumhead Trial. There
is also my personal favourite track Mist
and Without Prejudice. The albums
closing track Skies is a big step
forward for the band as well.
FINAL RATING
9 (Out of 10)
Track List:
1.
|
"Clarity"
|
5:32
|
2.
|
"Drumhead
Trial"
|
4:28
|
3.
|
"Tilting
Against Windmills"
|
4:12
|
4.
|
"Without
Prejudice"
|
4:15
|
5.
|
"Yellow
Teeth"
|
4:08
|
6.
|
"Plato’s
Tripartite"
|
5:22
|
7.
|
"A
Life Embossed"
|
5:33
|
8.
|
"Mist"
|
5:52
|
9.
|
"Underbite"
|
3:45
|
10.
|
"Animal
Bones"
|
4:37
|
11.
|
"Skies"
|
6:23
|
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