PROTEST THE HERO — Fortress (review)

PROTEST THE HERO — Fortress album cover Album · 2008 · Melodic Metalcore Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
topofsm
Looking for an energetic pump up? Want to infuse your day with some soaring choruses? Interesting in a bit of technical wizardry? Fortress is indeed a good pick for that, but ultimately by the end of it will leave the listener tired of the constantly rapid paces and the overload of melodies.

Fortress is best described as a post-hardcore album, but it's hardly a generic one. It easily borrows a lot from prog, tech, metalcore, and power metal to form one of the more unique sounds in the 'alternative' genres. The musicianship is indeed impressive throughout the whole album. The guitar shreds all over the place, the drums are fast paced, and the vocals are diverse and have an incredible range. However, one of the common complaints about the album is the constant fast paced techniques and blistering melodies wears the listener out with overuse.

The works on the album are probably better on a song by song basis anyways. The opener, "Bloodmeat" contains some killer energetic riffage and is a good example for what the rest of the album sounds like. "Sequoia Throne" opens with a bang and a flurry of tapped notes, and the energy scarcely lets up, revealing probably the best song on the album. The next two songs are great as well, in fact "Sequoia Throne" through "Spoils" are the main course of the album and musically the highlight. "Palms Read" contains an epic soaring guitar intro and rushing verses. "Limb From Limb" contains some very metal lyrics, and features interesting rhythmic experimentation, and also includes a strangely well fitting keyboard solo.

All in all a good listen, the songs are top notch, though could use some compositional editing. Tech fans should find it interesting though, as their metallic approach to post-hardcore is intriguing. Give it time, and Protest the Hero will become not only the figureheads in their genre today, but well respected by many fans across scenes.
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