It’s been two decades now, and Toronto’s Protest the Hero are still in a class of their own among their progressive metal peers. Their entire approach is still odd to think about on paper. Sure, they're a hyper-technical prog metal band and all, but their firm roots in punk rock are impossible to ignore. The vocals, meanwhile, are far more soaring and operatic than you'd expect from the typical fare in either of those two genres. It all sounds like it shouldn't really work that well, yet I would argue they have never released a bad album (don't you dare talk down on Scurrilous (2011)!) and I'm happy to say that latest release Within is no exception.
2020's Palimpsest was wholly devoted to its American history concept lyrically. Within—appropriately given the title—looks inwards instead. The lyrics are much more personal than any of Protest’s past releases to date (a few cuts from Scurrilous exempted), with vocalist Rody Walker touching on loss (”Liberty Spike”), aging as a band (”Grandfather’s Axe”), struggles with his voice (”The Mariner”) and some more explicitly political tunes (”Mouthpiece”, ‘Fishhook”). Walker has had some ups and downs since taking over lyric-writing duties from former bassist Arif Mirabdolbaghi, but this album has some of his most confident writing and performances to date. “Grandfather’s Axe” in particular is a highlight vocal-wise and beyond, with a groovy, sleazy vibe calling to mind Novallo or Destrage while Walker ponders the band’s many lineup and crew changes over the years.
On the more explicitly political side of the spectrum is “Fishhook”, a song that is bound to generate some online discussion from the portion listeners who have consistent selective amnesia about the band’s leftist punk roots. Here, Walker discusses an argument with a "geriatric asshole" next door, and laments how exhausting it is to not stoop to that level. The song is incredibly blunt lyrically and mostly eschews the usual Protest noodling for a more punk instrumental approach, making it somewhat bewildering on first listen—especially after the intricate technicality of opener “Mouthpiece”. That said, it is also bizarrely catchy, and the track I have changed my tune on the most on re-listens. I look forward to the online takes on this song and anticipate it will continue to be a live staple regardless.
The rest of the album remains immensely technical as you’d expect. Time has not slowed guitarists Luke Hoskin and Tim Millar down one bit, and Within often feels even faster and more frenetic than Palimpsest did. “Mouthpiece” sounds like a Gorod tune at times,* while the guitar parts in “Grandfather’s Axe” and “The Mariner” will have many a bedroom shredder hunched over the album’s transcription book whenever that comes out. Wicked leads aside, it also feels like the band has only improved at writing enormous chorus parts. “Liberty Spike” has a massive, hair-raising chorus section, while “The Orchard” feels absolutely anthemic from front to back. One wonders how much of this has to do with additional contributions from Milen Petzelt-Sorace, who handled the orchestral parts on Palimpsest and apparently contributed more to the songwriting in general across Within. Whatever the case, the end product is excellent all the same, and makes for some of the band's best instrumental songwriting to date.
You might notice, however, that I keep mentioning the same handful of songs. This is where we get to Within’s biggest issue: it is bizarrely short. Petzelt-Sorace contributes two lovely minute-long instrumental interludes that break up the album, but excepting these, Within’s six full songs are barely more than half an hour of music. This makes the record the shortest in the band’s discography—just about the length of the Pacific Myth EP (2016)—meaning it feels it is over with far, far too quickly. Granted, it is the band's first independent release, which might be a constraint, and rumours are already abounding online of Within being part of a planned double album, which could explain what’s going on here.** As it stands, we only have the songs in front of us to work with currently, and it does feel like a chunk of the album is somehow missing.
Still, the few tracks on here are top-notch material, and I would argue Within often peaks even harder than Palimpsest did. It probably says something that the biggest criticism of Within is “there should be more of it”. We’re already very lucky that Protest the Hero did not fizzle out over time and are still an active band, and luckier still that they continue releasing fresh material with their singular blend of progressive metal and unapologetic punk. Within is excellent and well worth your time, even if one is selfishly left hoping that the band would have had more to say after six years.
*I did once see Arif Mirabdolbaghi in attendance at a Gorod show in Toronto. Make of that what you will.
**I’m not entirely sure where the rumours began, but there was a post from artist Martin Wittfooth that suggested there’s a second half to Within’s artwork. Also make of that what you will.