Canada's Protest The Hero, in my eyes, is one of the most underrated bands in all of metal. In 2008, they released the absolutely spectacular Fortress. Fortress was a severely underrated and overlooked record that didn't get anywhere near the acclaim it deserved. Their latest release, Scurrilous, is every bit as good as Fortress and will hopefully get them the respect they deserve.
Scurrilous takes Protest The Hero's sound in a slightly different direction. There is definitely more of a progressive vibe to the record with an enhanced focus on clean vocals and melody. That being said, Protest The Hero's main goal is still to kick your ass and Scurrilous does just that. Album opener "C'est La Vie" gets the album off to a running start out of the gates. ""C'est A Le Vie" is an infectious,catchy masterpiece that will instantly get stuck in your head and demands repeat listens immediately. "C'est La Vie" is far from the lone highlight on Scurrilous. The entire album is a standout, every track is very close in terms of quality. Protest The Hero is able to make every song excellent by keeping things interesting with their off-the-charts level of musical precision. Just as impressive as the musicianship, is the manic level of energy the songs are delivered at. From the spastic scat screaming on "Tapestry" to the sarcastic,satirical tone of "Sex Tapes", every song is full of non-stop energy and fun.
Scurrilous is another brilliant record from Protest The Hero. It combines the best elements from their first two records to make their best record to date. Roddy Walker has never sound better and the guitarwork, as always, is top-notch. It's a super catchy yet heavy and punishing record. Scurrilous is the best album of 2010 so far and it's the first album of the year that is a pretty much a lock for (at least) my top 10.
4.5/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.C 'est La Vie
2.Tapestry
3.Tongue-Splitter
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