KEZIA

Metal, punk and hardcore: what feelings do those titles evoke in you? If you're anything like me, you hold generally negative conotations on those genres. I don't think any musical genre is inherently bad, but I do feel that there are hoards of mediocre or awful bands under such banners for every high-quality one. The same can be said about all genres to varying extents, but I have even more of a tough time handling the average bands of the said genres. While there have been several metal bands who have at least tried to do something interesting, very few have tried to experiment with punk and hardcore.

Canadian outfit Protest the Hero decided to mesh all three, with a progressive edge, and to surprising sucess. The music is technical, but it's also filled with hooks, melodies, and emotion, which I believe is key to making a great record. The individual tracks spew out fresh ideas every minute, but they are very structured and fluent, even including distinct verses and choruses. Vocalist Rody Walker has a bit of a whiny voice when he sings, but after coming to terms with it, you'll realize that he is a capable vocalist who lays down a solid performance. The musicians have obvious abilities, but they are very modest with them.

This is a concept album which the band describes as a situationist requiem, where the story is told from three different perspectives. Each perspective is given three tracks, and between each part is a soft interlude. Then, there is a final track to conclude the story. The lyrics on this album were inspired by Dostoevsky and are surprisingly mature, especially considering the cncept was developed when the boys were in high school.

This is one of the most impressive debuts by a tech-metal band, loaded with great hooks, the occasional beautiful acoustic passages and female vocals, and tons of emotion.

It has been worth putting up with all of the unbearable music my brother has shared with me to discover such a great band. This is why you always let someone share new music with you; you never know what gems you may discover!