Protest The Hero’s new single C’est La Vie is full of grooves, explosions, and harmonious melodies giving its fans a small glimpse of its upcoming album.
Artwork by Sean Gonzalez
Canadian five-piece progressive metal band Protest The Hero has released its new single C’est La Vie, French for That’s Life. This single has been released to promote their new album, Scurrilous, coming out on March 22nd, 2011. The album will be the third album released by the band, and from the sounds of the single, it is the best progression the band could have made. It sounds natural.
C’est La Vie starts out with a calm, soothing octave harmony with an immediate thrash of legato and tapping riffs, still in harmony. Guitar players Luke and Tim bounce sporadic after sporadic riff off of one another, and Luke adds wonderful non-sensical leads that make sense not making sense (does that make sense?). What this means is that the leads are not in the particular pitch of the song, but rather an explosion of minor pentatonic scales laced with finger-cramping speeds. Within these leads lie the beautiful chord progressions, which keep the rhythm and melodies consistent while Luke heads off to his world of crazy solos. The bass is a key element in many of Protest’s songs and add a low groove that is the opposite of the guitars, gluing the entire song together. Arif, the bass player, also incorporates jazz and funk style bass into C’est Le Vie, which adds a unique sound to the song.
Behind the guitars and bass, the drums are not in a regular time signature. For all the percussion work he does in songs, Moe Carlson is one of the most underrated drummers. He switches from a measure of, say five sixteenths to something as ridiculous as seven-eighths, with ease. Many drummers stay in the regular time signature of four-fourths, but Moe almost refuses to play in it.
Above the rest of the talented band lies Rody Walker, who is known for his operatic vocals. His voice ranges from a deep growl to a note that is in Christina Aguilera’s high range. He does many tight harmonies throughout C’est La Vie, and his voice creates such eloquent breakdowns in the song. His falsetto is eerie, giving off chills under the skin as his melodies surpass the exotic sounds from the rest of the band members. My favorite piece of vocal work throughout this song is during the slow bass groove line when Walker’s voice is the only other instrument continuing to carry the melody of the song. It leads into an explosion of chords and harmonized singing that burns the word ‘epic’ into the brain of the listener.
Not all singles are as fast paced as C’est La Vie, but indeed many artists are beginning to release singles before their albums. In fact I think it is a great thing to do. In the old days bands would release the album first, and then release the singles. Nowadays artists have become better marketers and release the singles before the album to gain better revenues for the upcoming album. The main reason is to give the listeners an idea of what the new album might sound like.
Another great thing about many new singles is that they happen to be free. And if they are not free, they can be streamed on a website for free, unlike an entire album. When an artist has not released any new material in a year or two, I cannot help but wonder what the next thing they write will sound like, and being given an advance single can change that. Getting an inside feel for the new direction of a new album can prepare me for what is next. After listening to C’est La Vie and comparing it to Protest The Hero’s previous albums, I can tell the progress the band has made. The only thing that makes me sad is that the album is still an entire month away, but that’s life (C’est La Vie).
