Protest The Hero - Fortress (2008)

Admittedly I hadn’t heard of ‘Protest the Hero’ before ‘Fortress’ was released. I was introduced to them first by listening to a few instrumental versions of the songs. This was perhaps lucky, because had I heard it first with the vocals I may have disregarded them straight away.

Don’t make that mistake. While at first the vocals have a tendency to sound a little whiney and screechy, I’ve actually become quite fond of them. It’s certainly not the strongest link in their chain, but this Canadian quintet have so much to offer that slightly unconventional vocals shouldn’t be enough to put anyone in their right mind off.

Luke Hoskin’s guitar work is exceptional. Not only is it technically outstanding, but it sounds fantastic in every single one of the songs on the record. The guitar truly does dictate the pace and mood of this whole album, and this is done seamlessly and from start to finish and Hoskin makes it look easy. The sound perhaps borders on math-core, but there is very little of the jerky starting and stopping stereotypical of the genre. Generally, in fact, this album flows very well, with good transitions throughout.

The album is, however, not one great big movement of music. Nor is it a concept piece like their previous release ‘Kezia’. It is in fact split into three distinct sections. Personally, I don’t see a huge purpose for this: The musical and lyrical styles don’t change greatly from one movement to the next; in fact there is no major change of any sort that I can determine. Perhaps someone more versed in musical theory can prove me wrong on that. The piano interludes, it could well be argued, provide relief from the intense music it brings pause to, but its really not that brutal! I can't really complain though, as they don't really detract from the sound of the album.

Every single song on this album has fairly unrivalled energy and frankly enviable ability, both in the writing and performing of the songs. I couldn’t really name one stand-out track, because- despite the interludes- this album really does just work so well as a whole, and each song is has its own merits. I for one will be most interested to see how they can build on their achievements on ‘Fortress’ and make something (hopefully) even better in their up-and-coming (not yet named) album.


9/10

1. Bloodmeat
2. The Dissentience
3. Bone Marrow
4. Sequoia Throne
5. Palm Reads
6. Limb From Limb
7. Spoils
8. Wretch
9. Goddess Bound
10. Goddess Gagged


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