SCURRILOUS

I began writing this review in a disappointing tone but soon realized that I really can't be hard on Protest The Hero for things that I could only relate to my personal feelings regarding their latest outing. I'm referring to the fact that Scurrilous is really not a big leap from the style that the quintet depicted on their break through release Fortress. The riffs are still rapid, sharp and hard hitting as ever, making up at least 70% of the band's song arrangements. That is unless you take into consideration the lyrical maturity with a clear shift from fantasy depictions to those of personal nature.

Unlike the two previous releases, Scurrilous is not a conceptual piece of music, instead the band takes the opportunity to reflect upon issues that are clearly of concern to them and I definitely support this shift. What I'm having more trouble with are the music arrangements which clearly haven't progressed much since Fortress. We still get that same distinct blend of Metalcore and Progressive Metal, which has unfortunately become less original over the course of the last few years with imitators like the band Treeburning becoming more of a rule than an exception as of lately.

I vividly recall the band stating, in a recent interview, that the new album was going to be even more progressive than their previous outings but I'm not sure that this is true. There's literally nothing here that we haven't already heard on Fortress, aside maybe from female lead vocals on Hair-Trigger and the previously mentioned lyrical shift. Another disappointment comes in the fact that the album doesn't start with a great opener like No Stars Over Bethlehem or Bloodmeat. C'est La Vie is not the great single that the band is trying to market it as, good but not among their best.

Having said all that, I still find it difficult not to enjoy this album. This is literally Fortress - part 2 and if you don't have a problem with that then definitely give this one a go!

***** star songs: Tandem (5:15) Tapestry (4:34)

**** star songs: C'est La Vie (3:32) Hair-Trigger (4:49) Moonlight (4:49) Dunsel (4:53) Termites (3:56) Tongue-Splitter (4:34) Sex Tapes (4:39)

*** star songs: The Reign of Unending Terror (3:23)