The new album boasts explosive music with vivid belts of vocals.
Artwork by Ed Gloor
Scurrilous, the new album by Canadian five-piece Protest The Hero has hit the shelves and the album boasts a fantastic progression for the band, which leads me to proclaim it a great success.
The music is epic. Throughout every song there is an underlying jazz groove that is very easy to listen to. This jazz is backed by ear-shattering metal with enough energy to overcome a bear’s ears. Every song has melodic instrumental breakdowns with lightning quick guitar riffs that sound psychedelic and jazzy, making full use of pentatonic scales. Every instrument is played in controlled and precise measures, even though the band switches time signatures with ease. It is not odd to hear a disruption in the beats per measure because the band enjoys changing the time signature.
I was interested to hear if Luke Hoskin, the lead guitarist, could pull out anymore-creative leads and taps, and as soon as Tongue Splitter blasted through my headphones, I was in awe. The guitars get a rating of awesome for their fast-paced, creative, and perfectly strummed licks and riffs. Luke and Tim even calm down on the distorted guitars to slower paced blues solo’s during C’est la Vie and Dunsel. They never seem to let up, and when they do, it builds up to a perfectly timed explosion of epic paced 6-stringers.
Arif, the bass player, can actually be heard in this album. His funky bass-lines have a bunch of different styles incorporated into them, including slapping and popping.
Moe Carlson brings great energy into the songs with his technical playing ability on the drums. He pounds the skins with such force and builds up breakdowns with ease. The entire band is playing like a tightly knit orchestra, everything is in sync and nothing is out-of-place. The songs flow like a classical composition, with intricate harmonies and chord progressions in which the lead singer, Rody Walker, can belt out his phrases with ease.
Rody Walker stepped up to the plate on the lyrics for this album, and for this being his first time he did an exceptional job. His lyrics contain more about the everyday struggles of life, including suicide, cancer, and love. He did manage to bring out the unique historical writings as previous albums have had, which keeps the same Protest The Hero vibe to the album.
The last song, Sex Tapes, speaks bout the controversies of women as secretaries in the business world. Rody’s voice has matured greatly, and he has full control over every note he belts. He has reduced the amount of screaming on the album to a bare minimum, which really shows his vocal perfections.
Making a return on Hair-Trigger is Jadea Kelly, whose soft melodic voice is the perfect opposite to Rody’s harsh vocals, which can be heard as they switch off singing “Cold, cold, cold.” Jadea Kelly was on the first album, Kezia, and finally made her return, which was much-needed.
Overall, Scurrilous is the best progress the band has made, ever. They combine melodies, emotions, energy, and everyday life perfectly into one electric album. One thing I miss is the piano interludes that would accompany some songs in the past. These piano interludes were long arpeggiated scales that would bring a perfect end to a movement or song. I can live without them on this album, because they provided a lot more in the ear-shattering riffs and scales in the music. Every song takes the listeners on a ride that will surely result in them being blown away.
Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭
