| An album rich in fleet fingered fretwork and leg cramping double bass barrages, but severely lacking in ractual songs. Protest the Hero had always teetered between the realms of indulgent guitar histrionics and rcontemporary prog-punk wonderment, but it seems somewhere along the line, the band's ambition had rmanaged to fully eclipse their musical sensibilities. Guys, we get it, you can play your instruments (very well rat that)! Just pull it back! We don't need wave after wave of sweeps and tapping passages to blemish what rwould have been a well crafted piece of prog-punk. Remember the keyboard solo from "Limb from Limb?" rImagine that in every song, but instead of said keyboard, it was a guitar. That essential surmises that rentirety of Scurrilous, musically at least. Now, couple that with the fact that Rody has stripped himself of his rgreatest strength (his ability the seamlessly incorporate a variety of different vocal tricks into his rperformance) and you've got a recipe for disaster. No screaming, no death growls, all singing. Take this as ryou will, but Rody's versatility as a singer was his undeniable niche. Yes, he's still a formidable vocalist, but rthe dude just sounds awkward when he sings passages which would be better suited for a rscream or growl. I wanted to love it but this is, by far, the greatest disappointment of the year. |
