{"id":100928,"date":"2020-07-23T09:00:38","date_gmt":"2020-07-23T14:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/?p=100928"},"modified":"2020-07-22T20:00:49","modified_gmt":"2020-07-23T01:00:49","slug":"july-roundup-protest-the-hero-aodon-wretched-empire-goats-of-doom-iku-turso-korgonthurus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/july-roundup-protest-the-hero-aodon-wretched-empire-goats-of-doom-iku-turso-korgonthurus\/","title":{"rendered":"July Roundup: Protest the Hero<\/b>, Aodon<\/b>, Wretched Empire<\/b>, Goats of Doom<\/b>, Iku-Turso<\/b> & Korgonthurus<\/b>"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Insomnia, a bear and a lapful of records. Sometimes I question my life choices. Not today though, not today.<\/p>\n

\"\"Protest the Hero<\/strong> – Palimpsest<\/em><\/p>\n

Canada’s Protest the Hero<\/strong> has nailed down a sound so idiosyncratic, they may make all manner of changes to their formula and it would not appear as if they had changed all that much. They’ve come a long way since Kezia<\/em>, but it doesn’t feel like much else than refinement, line-up changes and time’s toll have had any hand in their sound. This seemed to turn against the band as 2014’s Volition<\/em> and its follow-up, Pacific Myth<\/em> offered less engaging takes on a familiar sound, lost in increasing snoring. A band stuck in a rut, struggling to reinvent themselves. Palimpsest<\/em> doesn’t take Protest the Hero into brave new directions, but it does offer several smaller changes that work together to free the band from their bind.<\/p>\n

Roddy Walker still takes everything out of his versatile voice, and the endless, Fripp-esque stream of arpeggios is almost ever-present, but the interplay between these two elements, or indeed even either element alone, isn’t as central to the songwriting as before. The melodic buildup towards memorable choruses has been honed and is banked on even further, while the songs are generally a little shorter than on Pacific Myth<\/em>, keeping them from breaking down. Songs more memorable and distinctive than its predecessor’s weren’t enough for the group this time though; the last few releases have each seen airier compositions than the earlier material, but Palimpsest<\/em> uses that to full effect, adding orchestrations. This isn’t some symphonic pomp designed to clog the last of the band’s flow, but instead underline and add space to the proceedings. Protest the Hero still isn’t out of their rut though, they just no longer struggle in it. Time will have to tell whether Palimpsest<\/em> began a new, upwards trajectory, or became the last, defiant triumph.<\/p>\n