Metal Monday: Protest The Hero Get Scandalous With Scurrilous
posted in: Reviews & Playlists • Rock
Ontario-based progressive metal band Protest The Hero are asking us to break out the dictionary to figure out what their new album Scurrilous means. For those who don’t feel like looking it up, it essentially refers to something that includes harsh language that could be abusive or slanderous. While there isn’t a whole lot of coarse language in the lyrics, the themes explored on album are quite, dare I say, scurrilous.
A bit of a departure from the previous two albums by Protest The Hero, Scurrilous has a story-telling vibe. As opposed to using vague metaphors, singer Rody uses a direct approach, dropping lyrical gems such as “The songs we sung when we were just young / Have all but lost their meaning / But there’s still a few things / That we keep on believing / Shitty music just ain’t worth makin’ / Smiles and thank-you’s just ain’t worth faking / Some assholes’ hands ain’t worth shaking / And if it’s not broken we need to break it” which is a straight shot to the gut of current music industry views. Other lyrical themes range from alcoholism, suicide, tour life, dealing with loved ones who have cancer, celebrity sex tapes and everything in between.
Musically Scurrilous is right on par with the other incredibly technical and blistering releases by Protest The Hero. Lofty guitar licks, groovy bass sections, hard-hitting drum parts, emotionally provocative vocals”all with the utmost precision and complexity you could ask for in an album. Though a touch less technical than their previous releases, this “deficiency” is more than made up for in the amount of attitude in the delivery throughout the album. As opposed to just shredding your ambivalent face off for forty-five minutes, they want to add a little salt to the wounds they’re making with their razor-sharp performance.
Most critical reviews of the album have been generally positive, such as Allmusic, Sputnikmusic, Metal Injection and Ultimate-Guitar.com. Other reviews, such as the one featured in the May 2011 issue of Decibel Magazine gives Scurrilous a pedestrian 5/10, stating “A band called Protest The Hero are casting a Blackguard spell of pinched falsettos and never-ending arpeggios” and “will doom you to a life of action figure collecting and eternal virginity.” Well, you can’t please everyone, right?
If you’ve ever listened to Protest The Hero and liked what you heard, this is certainly an album for you. Alternatively, if you like music that has the virtuosity of classically-trained musicians and the songwriting sensibilities of Bob Dylan–all wrapped in a neat metal package– this might also be a great fit for you. You can grab a copy of the record at pretty much every major record retailer, and online shops such as iTunes and Amazon.