Protest - About Human Idols
Metal Age Productions - 2002
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the Metal Age Productions web site.
Aaah, death/grind records. You've gotta love 'em. Unrelenting in their brutality, unintelligible in their lyrics, unoriginal in their approach.
But actually, scrap that last one, because Protest appear to be doing things a little differently to usual. Sure, you've got the requisite subsonic growls and ear-splitting screams, and there are of course furious drumbeat assaults. But just for a change, there is some variation in the song structures, and the occasional tempo change beyond 'no brakes' setting. The tracks even last about five minutes on average, which on typical death/grind terms practically equates to progressive metal!
First track 'Nothing But Grim Emptiness' sets the pace with a brooding, malevolent intro featuring feedback squeals and other ambient noises, before the riffs come surging in and carry the listener away on a tide of screams, cymbals and pinch-harmonic laden riffs. The track jumps from tearaway sections to more measured, mid-tempo head-banging riffs and back again seemingly without breaking a sweat, and that trend is carried on throughout.
While Protest's music could hardly be described as being subtle, there are more technical nuances and structural complexities here than you would find in most bands of the same style, and that's what sets Protest apart from the pack. Well worth checking out.
8.5/10
Metal Age Productions - 2002
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the Metal Age Productions web site.
Aaah, death/grind records. You've gotta love 'em. Unrelenting in their brutality, unintelligible in their lyrics, unoriginal in their approach.
But actually, scrap that last one, because Protest appear to be doing things a little differently to usual. Sure, you've got the requisite subsonic growls and ear-splitting screams, and there are of course furious drumbeat assaults. But just for a change, there is some variation in the song structures, and the occasional tempo change beyond 'no brakes' setting. The tracks even last about five minutes on average, which on typical death/grind terms practically equates to progressive metal!
First track 'Nothing But Grim Emptiness' sets the pace with a brooding, malevolent intro featuring feedback squeals and other ambient noises, before the riffs come surging in and carry the listener away on a tide of screams, cymbals and pinch-harmonic laden riffs. The track jumps from tearaway sections to more measured, mid-tempo head-banging riffs and back again seemingly without breaking a sweat, and that trend is carried on throughout.
While Protest's music could hardly be described as being subtle, there are more technical nuances and structural complexities here than you would find in most bands of the same style, and that's what sets Protest apart from the pack. Well worth checking out.
8.5/10
