Protest The Hero

Fortress

[4/5]

Protest The Hero can shred like nobody’s business, which is all the more impressive considering the Whitby, Ontario-based quintet literally just reached the U.S. legal drinking age. Indeed, only bored, technically gifted metal-boys armed with overly active imaginations and dog-eared copies of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy could craft an over-the-top, sword-swinging, insanely elaborate noodle-fest like
Fortress-their sophomore full-length and follow-up to 2005’s critically acclaimed concept album Kezia (re-released Stateside in ’06).

Intentionally shying away from Kezia’s strict thematic structure, the tracks on Fortress are arranged within three different “movements”; and while lyrically Kezia focused on a story of a woman on death row, Fortress is better suited for a heated game of Dungeons & Dragons, with themes lifted straight from tales of Genghis Khan and Irish mythology. (Less than a minute into opening track “Bloodmeat,” singer Rody Walker belts about “swords still wet with the blood of their dead.”) But what makes Fortress much more than just a chain mail-clad sweep-picking clinic is the band’s ability to weave bold melodies into the album’s thundering riffage, hinting at a growing musical maturity that could propel them to dizzying creative heights by the time PTH’s age matches their dexterity. (VAGRANT) Brendan Manley

ROCKS LIKE:

Fates Warning’s No Exit

Dio’s Holy Diver

Between The Buried And Me’s Colors

IN-STORE SESSION WITH VOCALIST RODY WALKER



Kezia instantly garnered a cult following. How did you approach the follow-up?

We think [Fortress] is definitely an advancement upon what we were doing before. We had to play those songs from Kezia for upward of, like, three fucking years. We were just so bored with them; it really pushed us to write weirder, crazier shit. That’s really where this album comes from. Conceptually speaking, we tried to keep it as loose as possible, so we didn’t get as many ridiculous questions from kids coming up to us at shows.

Yet there’s still an awful lot going on with the lyrics. What are Fortress’ themes?

It’s about past, present and future battles, societal battles…there’s a big spiel on the future, which actually quotes Star Trek at one point. We’re really interested in writing brutal shit; there’s a certain violence that we want to portray. We’re not violent people; there’s just something badass about screaming violent things. [Laughs.] When you go back through history, some of the most violent of times were when weapons weren’t conventional-when guns weren’t in existence, and people had to fight with swords and knives and things like that. There’s something really cool about that.

Sounds very armchair-intellectual…

I wouldn’t call any of us intellectuals, but we all read quite feverishly. We’re not always reading Nietzsche or Dostoevsky-sometimes we’re reading "Eragon". [Laughs.] We’re not the kind of people that just want to write about getting our dicks wet, even though sometimes, I do just want to sing about getting my dick wet.

But still, you’re on pretty dangerous ground when you’re a metal band singing about swords.

When we go through the lyrics at some points, we just have to kind of laugh about it, and be like, “We’re a fucking fantasy band now.” [Laughs.] I don’t think the music is representative of that style of fantasy metal, so even if the lyrics get a little cheesy at times, it’s all in good fun.

There’s definitely an ’80s British heavy metal vibe in spots. Do you have a favorite from that genre?

I listen to a lot of Judas Priest, myself. I fucking love Rob Halford. I think he’s a genius. Even though I’m not gay, I would suck his dick off in just a second, to say that I swallowed pure metal.

What about the live show? Any plans to battle a fire-breathing dragon on stage?

If we were going to do something, we’d do something so stupid, people would just be like, “That’s very funny.” Like, cut each other’s arms off, like in the Addams Family movie. You can’t get any better than spraying blood. It’s been done a million times, and it’ll be done a million times more, ’cause it’s a good idea. –Brendan Manley