Album Rating: 2.5

direct line guitar

drums sound fake, especially the bass pedal



how do people not notice this



It sounds like joey sturgis produced this shit

Maybe bc they don't hear it that way? Drums def don't sound fake to me-- I get why you'd say that, but they just sound like they may have been sound-replaced (which is very common in this style of music, so I wouldn't be bothered in the slightest)

And I'll be honest, I don't know what "direct line guitar" means =]

Album Rating: 4.0

i actually really like how the drums sound on this album



...production in general i think is pretty solid here, though the guitar could be crisper for sure

Album Rating: 2.5

I can't stand sound replaced drums



direct line is when you plug the guitar straight into the computer, foregoing an amp



I just can't stand this modern style of production, like I listen to Ziggy Stardust and all the instruments sound real and dynamic and they stand apart like they all occupy the space differently and this kind of production the wav form is just !!!!!!!!!!!!! the whole time you know and I hate it

There are albums where most of the instruments contained occupy the same space, but I really wouldn't pin that on this album. I'd venture to say the production here is the best Protest has ever seen. My only qualm is that the cymbals sound thin, especially the hi-hat, but.. that's it.

If anything, I'd say the songwriting here does Protest no favors... It's hard to get songs like Plato to sound interesting when they're at the same dynamic for minutes at a time.

And Robert, if you want great production in modern music then check out the new A Lot Like Birds album more. I know, I know, you think it's average (but the production really is great)

biitch gettin fucked

Album Rating: 2.5

the production here is miles ahead of kezia so ????????

Album Rating: 3.0

seems pretty homogeneous throughout on first listen



I didn't get the same vibe from fortress

Guitars are usually never "direct input." But of course a lot of metal bands do use amp farm to record then re-amp the guitars later. I would be suprised if a band actually didnt use in amp in the recording process at all, because it would sound like dump shit. And I think the production here is pretty great too.

Album Rating: 4.0

I agree with most of this review. At first I thought this was different to Scurrilous but it's much the same - boring and dull, with superficial complexity. The first 2 songs are good and then it's downhill (except 'Mist').

Album Rating: 4.0

The drums sound okay, the problem is dull playing where he's basically just keeping the beat and nothing else. Actually reminds me a lot of the drums in DragonForce (seriously), really fast but not really doing anything.

listened to a good bit of this yesterday....nothing really stands out and grabs me. i'm gonna keep listening, but this may be my least favorite by these guys

Album Rating: 4.0

the production irks me too. it all just sounds so thin. The bass is too low in the mix. I feel like the guitar tones have too much treble. Rody is a little loud at points. Scurrilous sounds much better imo

First paragraph sums up how I feel about these guys nowadays perfectly

Album Rating: 3.5

I played the hell out of this when it first was streamed and subsequently bought it, so now have had plenty of listens to warrant an unbiased opinion.

I still like it, but no longer love it. Which is weird, because I went from liking it to loving it originally.

I'm certain of one thing, and that's being able to make one hell of a Protest playlist with some of these new tracks.

They blend so well with their old stuff, particularly Scurrilous.



*Side note- Every time I listen to Without Prejudice I forget it's not Arif playing dat bass part*

apparently everyone itt is a recording engineer

Album Rating: 3.0

"apparently everyone itt is a recording engineer"



although i'm finding some of the comments mildly hilarious (being a "mix engineer in training"), this so hard.

Album Rating: 4.5

i was about to get annoyed but then i realized xeno listens to mostly post-rock and indie-rock. i really have to wonder why he even bothered to review this album in the first place. this review is biased to the point that i almost feel like he did this just to incite drama.

Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off

Ya I actually am on track to get a degree in music tech and recording arts, and while I haven't read

everything in the thread, I just think the drums and vocals are heavily off balance. Vocals being

way too loud, drums not loud enough. This is basic of the basic mixing.



Also the entire album seems as if it's at the same volume the whole time, like every track was

thrown into a compressor. That's probably not what happened but after a while it grates on me how

thin the

soul of the recording is too.



Like trebor said, direct in is almost always the worse way to go. You want that yummy analog

equipment to harmonize with all your digital processing. Because of that, it appears static and

binary. Guitars also just generally sound stupid.



EDIT: why is everyone attacking the reviewer as if he's a fucking politician? Writing the dude off

because he listens to indie? Dude. That's pretty pathetic. That's the same as posting someone's

fives that you don't like when you're in an argument as if it gets your point across.



And i completely get where he's coming from. I liked the first three protest albums, and I listen to

progressive metal enough to know that this is a lazy, drunken effort by a band who doesn't care

anymore with a vocalist that's become so self-absorbed and devoid of any creative melody

contributions that he should dive under a tractor. It's not embarrassingly bad but they certainly

weren't trying. I feel more disappointment than anything

Album Rating: 1.5

"i was about to get annoyed but then i realized xeno listens to mostly post-rock and indie-rock. i really have to wonder why he even bothered to review this album in the first place. this review is biased to the point that i almost feel like he did this just to incite drama."



the butthurt is so real [2]