Anyways. In contrast to my previous post about a very popular genre in America, the band for today, Protest the Hero, is held in a genre that comes with a stigma of aggression, violence, and screaming (among other things), and with a much smaller fan base than country. I'm talking of course about metal. There are many different kinds of metal just like there are many different genres of rock. They have similarities and differences, but in the end they can all be held under the umbrella of metal.
Protest the Hero, a "progressive metal" band hailing from Canadia (Yes. That is what I call Canada. Deal with it. It's one of my favorite countries). My love for Canadia has something to do with my love of this band and may even be the reason I started listening to them in the first place. I had seen shirts for the band when I was in Canadia when I was 11 and when I started hearing about them in America I had to listen to them.
The one thing I will say about this band that may get them more listeners is that it sounds very similar to dubstep music, except for one HUGE difference. It's made by actual instruments and actual musicians. And yes there is real singing, not just screaming. Not just people who get bored and put some electronic sounds together to make music. I'm not bashing dubstep (because I really like that genre of music too), I'm just saying that a DJ is not the same as a musician in my mind. Yes the bass might not drop as much as it does in a dubstep song, but that's because it's too busy pounding into your brain. It may not sound pleasant, but give it a shot!
This was the first "metal" band that I had really given a chance and I'm glad I did. The intricacies and aggressive guitar playing on their first album Kezia are incredible. As a debut album this was released in America in 2006 and I fell in love with it. It's a concept album about a woman (Kezia) in prison who is sentenced to death. The story is told through three different perspectives, the priest presiding over her execution, a prison guard (who will do the executing), and Kezia. Each character gets three songs on the album and the tenth song ties it all together.
Outstandingly fun to listen and dance to Kezia has some stand out tracks. However, my favorite song on the album is "Turn Soonest To The Sea." (Video with lyrics underneath here) I put the lyrics in with this because until you've heard the song many times you really can't understand a lot of what they say. That's not even what makes this song great. It's the cool, intricate, technically accurate, and at times face-melting guitars throughout the entire song.
The second album they released, Fortress, is more deafening and exciting than the first one! For some that may be a huge turn off from the band immediately. But I assure you the onslaught of drums, guitars, and vocals and the combinations of notes and rhythms they come up with are unbelievable. I don't know how they play them as well as they do.
This album follows the pattern of a three act structure of the first album, this time with piano interludes between the three acts. It's an incredible album as a whole following themes of goddess worship. It "degenders" the lord and savior and follows some Irish myths. Intricate guitars and awesome, albeit strange lyrics lace this album with intensity. The first single and video off this album is "Bloodmeat" (view it here). And the second one is "Sequoia Throne" and is here. The thing that got me the first time I saw a video of them is that most of not all of the band members do not have huge beard. A staple in many metal bands.
A lot of people overlook metal music, but if you give it a chance and really listen to it you may be surprised by what you hear.
No comments:
Post a Comment