I had my apprehensions about seeing Protest The Hero. It’s true. Laugh all you like, but try being absolutely surrounded by prog nerds, and the only longhairs among them are the obviously going to Berklee. The rest also go to Berklee, but don’t look like it. Fine institution, I’ll rib them as I please. Trekking to the Palladium and back in the midst of a snowstorm was no picnic, so if you’re reading this and live in a place without snow and a much more efficient transit system, feel free to lord it over me.
Arriving just in time to catch The Kindred’s set, I couldn’t help but smell something amiss. Was it their front man attempting to be Tommy Rogers of Between The Buried And Me fame, or someone near me not rigorously applying deodorant out of consideration for their fellow showgoer? If you guessed the former, you’re correct, though it would be nothing short of erroneous to not mention that there were some ripe fellows in this lot come to spectate. Talented group of lads, yes, but originality was severely lacking. The inclusion of a song with a sort of call and response and the front man’s getting off the stage to “mosh” with the crowd was charming enough, but I wasn’t exactly won over, having heard many a prog band of their type in all my Palladium-going years.
And to stack on yet another dry slice of derivative sourdough was Affiance. In light of their having convinced themselves that they’re something worth noting in the post-2007 era of progressive metalcore, their singer did boast some pretty sweet range, so that much at least was nice to hear. Otherwise, it was a series of by-the-numbers riffs and breakdowns that make the sober man wish that he could conjure a 40 oz of something vile and intoxicating to dull the edge of having heard it all before. I may sound harsh, but you had to be there to see/hear it for yourself.
We were promised Architects, and they failed to come build as per the contract. We were promised The Contortionist as well, and they couldn’t make it due to being given a fierce snowjob by Mother Nature in return for being talented in the cold season. Hell, even the night’s honorees in Protest The Hero showed up just in time to load in their gear after Affiance finished, so that’s how close we were to being strung out and in need of more noodles.
Now is as good a time as ever to admit that I’ve not been keeping up with Protest The Hero since the phenomenal Fortress, chock full of melody, technicality, and even a breakdown here and there to get the blood moving. I was mentally unready for them to mentally fellate me with the j-rock leaning soar of ‘Mist’ and the techy yet tasty Star Trek themed ‘Clarity’ from their killer new album Volition (Razor And Tie). I fell asleep on this band for a while, but Rody’s live back cracking by a professional chiropractor in the crowd sure as hell woke me up. Oldies, but goodies ‘Sequoia Throne’ and ‘Bloodmeat’ from the aforementioned Fortress made appearances, but sadly no ‘Blindfolds Aside’, which was the song that turned people (myself included) on to them many aeons ago in the first place. All present even got treated to Rody attempting (and failing) freestyle rapping. Let’s hope these influences make themselves plain on Prote$t Tha Hero, Yo’s next studio effort.
Braving the snow and cold was worth it to rekindle my long lost and embrace love of some of prog metal’s , but can someone please tell the heavens to turn up the global thermostat? You’re not kvlt.
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Words: Sean Pierre-Antoine