Review: Protest the Hero – Volition (2013)

By Misc Contributor

By Jordan Baker

Some bands never really seem to change unless you pay attention. Since their debut album, Kezia, Protest The Hero have stayed true to their technical progressive metal sound. They’ve always had the dramatic and somewhat spastic melodies with both the vocals and the instrumentals, the high energy, and the intensely technical guitar lines. However, a lot has changed with the band since then. They’ve gotten a lot bigger, first of all, which always makes a difference in any artist’s music, the main lyric and songwriting duties have been switched around within the band, and even since the release of their last album, Scurrilous, they’ve lost their drummer, left their record label, and raised over $125,000 from their fans to record this album. Volition is a natural progression for Protest The Hero, while certainly still staying true to the sound that their fans so clearly wanted from them.

Musically, Volition would be seen by many as a clear improvement over Scurrilous. There are more soaring melodies akin to the ones on Kezia, like on the track “Tilting Against Windmills,” and much more material that could be seen as “catchy”, in general. As similar as all of their work may sound, they’ve never repeated themselves, and they’ve always had innovative song structure while keeping their music fairly accessible, which is shown very clearly on this album. Volition serves as a fantastic representation of Protest The Hero’s music as a whole. In addition, the band’s mix of influences is shown best on this record. From punk, to post-hardcore, to progressive rock, to metalcore, there’s something for pretty much everyone. It never sounds forced or sloppy, either, they meld into each other flawlessly, with an extremely polished end product.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HjTs-y-ZQo&h=297&w=450]

Of course, it just wouldn’t be a Protest The Hero album without wildly technical guitar playing. There’s definitely a surge in groovy riffs on this album, like on the track “Clarity,” but the musicianship is absolutely still there, and it never really stops throughout the entirety of the record. The drums on this album are performed by Chris Adler of Lamb of God, who acts as a studio musician to replace Moe Carlson, who was on every previous Protest The Hero album. For someone who usually plays a style of metal that is in no way similar to Protest The Hero, his performance is stellar, and fits perfectly with the rest of the band. As for the vocals, they’re more or less business as usual. Rody Walker’s incredible range has always been a focal point of the band’s music. He hits notes so high that it’s difficult to differentiate between him and any one of the few female guest vocalists that appear throughout. He’s also back to performing more harsh vocals than there were on Scurrilous, which he’s fantastic at. The intensity of his shrieks are just as theatrical as his clean vocals.

Anyone that listens to Volition without any familiarity with the band beforehand will get the best possible introduction to them. This album sounds more like themselves than Protest The Hero has ever sounded before. That’s not to say that they’ve just now found their sound; they’ve had this quirky, proggy, mathcore sound since they’ve been recording studio albums. However, I do feel that they’ve perfected their craft. Regardless of personal preference, Protest The Hero have crafted their most complete and personality-filled record to date with Volition. It’s as epic and cohesive as can be in a style of music that is so inherently messy. It all comes together quite well, and leaves the fans with something they’ve earned, since they paid for the whole thing and even performed on it, in some cases. I can’t think of a better way for Protest The Hero to say thank you.