After weeks of stormy weather listening to moody ambient post-rock and grumbly down-tuned and down-tempo sludge – immersing myself in the gloom of winter and its' commensurate musings – this southern California boy needed some sunlight. Ask and thou shall receive! The signs of life are returning; people are out and about, lawnmowers are blaring, birds chirping, my neighbors have their windows open for the first time in months and, best of all, Protest The Hero is blaring through my speakers with all the frantic vocals and frenetic guitars I need to dredge me out of my own slump.
Scurrilous, the third studio album from Canadian progressive metal band Protest The Hero, sees the band hitting its' stride and delivering riff after riff of dizzying guitar mastery and surprisingly personal lyrics that generally aren’t synonymous with heavy metal music to its' listeners.
Scurrilous begins its' tirade with “C’est La Vie,” a song filled with irony and puns outlining the brief glory and utter waste of suicide. Rody Walker’s powerful vocals sound like a hybrid lovechild of Bruce Dickenson and Cedric Bixler-Zavala; dishing out the line “stepped off a building to find concrete evidence that he’d ever make an impact” seriously yet darkly humorous at the same time. The guitars here and throughout the album swirl tempestuously – dancing with the drums at a chaotic pace – and constantly change both rhythm and time signature. Although I would call them chaotic, do not mistake that for ugly; the guitar parts are played with a grace and finesse that could easily find airtime on any mainstream hard rock radio station and keep the attention of the elitist underground metalhead type at the same time.
In the never-ending struggle to define genres and sub-genres, especially in heavy metal music, I would have to classify Protest The Hero as progressive metalcore. The band keeps it heavy throughout this album, but infuse sweeping melodies throughout. Complex chord structures and progressions are key to the machine. Listening to Scurrilous, I’m blown away that Walker can even put words to these songs – but he pulls it off with flying colors.
In the heartfelt “Tandem,” Walker celebrates the strength of an unnamed “she” who is battling cancer with quiet resolve. This track is one of those I mentioned as having surprisingly personal lyrics, for a metal band. Given that the current trends in metal lean more closely to the blatantly disgusting-for-the-sake-of-being-disgusting metal lyrics (see anything from Exhumed’s “Gore Metal” for example), the fact that Walker put these words onto this album says a lot about his character. Another great moment in Scurrilous is the scathing anti-record industry anthem “Dunsel” where Walker spits “I make music for myself, not for hand jobs from the upper-tier or their undeserved wealth. Here's to their failing fucking health.” Tell me how you really feel, Walker!
There are so many great pieces that make up this album – from the beautiful Philip Glass-esque arpeggio break of “Tapestry” to the band's final sendoff quoting Bogart’s classic line “Here’s looking at you, kid” backed with guitar finger-tapping madness – that I could probably drag this review on for another five hundred words, but I will end here for fear of straying from my point. Scurrilous is an intense album that will sit well with a wide variety of metal fans. If you’re a fan of pulse-pounding drums, manic vocals and ever-shredding guitar work, this album will not disappoint.
Artist:
www.protestthehero.com/
www.myspace.com/protestthehero
www.facebook.com/protestthehero
www.twitter.com/protestthehero
Album:
Scurrilous is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
