By now, you are aware that Protest the Hero, our Canadian progressive metal friends, ave decided to go about releasing their new album by doing it themselves. No record contracts, self-produced and totally free of obligations. They had also put a campaign on Indigogo, with some sick incentives, including a limited edition vinyl (which I, along with a few others at HBIH picked up), so sick hoodies, even a pizza party at Tim’s house. Well, as of today, their campaign has ended. And were they successful in reaching their $125,000 goal? Uh, you could say yes.

Not only did they succeed, but they did more than DOUBLE what they had anticipated, with $341,121 raised. Wow. As a music fan who still buys physical records and CDs and cassettes, this is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. A band, whom I hold near and dear, has fans that are as dedicated, if not more, than I am to helping them, and were willing to pay even though we know it will be months before we receive anything. It’s truly a beautiful thing. So hopefully we can get their best record yet, surpassing even the legendary Fortress, and maybe even get a new magnum opus from the five piece.

This also, I might add, is why all of a sudden so many other bands/projects have gone to Indiegogo to help. It’s a market that’s readily available and that is actually pretty logical. While most bands won’t achieve what PTH did (say, upstarts or smaller bands), they can definitely make a name for themselves by adding awesome incentives and having a pretty decent fanbase.

So congratulations, guys. You did super well. We’re all stoked! If you want a reminder, here are the five guys you’re helping.

– SS