Protest The Hero is a killer band to be sure, but there’s one element that elevates these teenaged Toronto shredsters above and beyond their contemporaries: the riffs, the motherfucking riffs. Protest The Hero, first and foremost, is a group built around some of the coolest and most intense riffs I’ve heard in a long time, each track chock-full of speedy riff-o-ramas that incite and inspire, making you wonder why you didn’t practice your scales when you had the chance.

Don’t take that to mean that Protest The Hero enters the realms of mathcore – far from it. Instead, even though complex power-chord patterns and blistering soloing are found everywhere on Kezia, all of it is very listenable, much like an old-school thrash tune (i.e. you can hum these songs no problem). Top highlights have to be “Blindfolds Aside” and “Nautical”, but every track on record is quite high-tier.

The only problem to be found here are the high-register vocals, more suited to a Manowar record than anything cool. Aside from that issue, this is great material from a really young band; if they’re already this sick at their age, I shudder to think where they’ll be when they hit their mid-20s. The members of Protest The Hero know it though and, as such, they consistently come off really cocky on stage. I’m hoping it’s all irony… a band this good shouldn’t let its ego get the best of it.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments