Album Review: Fortress by Protest the Hero

Protest the Hero's Fortress owes much of its sound to progressive metal, even if its post-hardcore and punk metal influences are still evident. The new sound is detectable as soon as vocalist Rody Walker begins singing on the opening song, "Bloodmeat," when an initial quick burst of a verse gives way to chorus that floats over pounding rhythms and a background string section. The piece sets the tone for what is to come; Fortress is just as aggressive and intense as the band's debut album, Kezia, but not as dark, even as Walker shifts between operatic melodies and guttural grunts and screams.

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Protest the Hero plays the Kool Haus Friday (February 8). Rating: NNNN With their second full-length, Whitby’s metalcore-affected prog junkies seem poised to step up in a very large way. Each of three movements consisting of three songs each is a jumbled, frantic parade of epic-ish post-metal that more than anything else celebrates a patchwork pacing that often recalls the incongruent, violent bursts and spasms of heavyweights like Dillinger Escape Plan.

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Review Summary: "Fortress" proves the Protest the Hero can actually write a damn good album, without resorting to silly tricks and lame breakdowns.Tilt: NilContext: Kezia is a 3/5I’d just like to point out, that there is absolutely no difference in the level of dorkiness between Protest the Hero and a band like, oh say Blind Guardian. One rewrites epic fantasy tales, and the other writes ridiculous prose about the death and rebirth of a goddess. Previously, Protest the Hero carved out a massive niche being a metal band that took a bunch of influence hardcore bands, but really wasn’t metalcore.

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