Protest The Hero

Formed in Whitby, Ontario, Protest the Hero fuse technical metal with post-hardcore sensibilities through the lineup of vocalist Rody Walker, guitarist and vocalist Tim Millar, guitarist and vocalist Luke Hoskin, drummer Moe Carlson, and bassist and vocalist Arif Mirabdolbaghi. The group first coalesced around a shared musical interest that took root among high-school classmates, then refined a distinctive approach whose contours echoed Coheed & Cambria, At the Drive-In, and Every Time I Die. In 2001 they issued the 7" Search for the Truth via Canada's Underground Operations label, returning two years later with the EP A Calculated Use of Sound. Recognition followed swiftly: the band captured Best Indie Metal Band honors at Toronto's 2004 Indie Music Awards and logged repeated airings on the Canadian outlet MuchMusic. Extensive road work paired them with acts ranging from Korn and Limp Bizkit to Bigwig and Sum 41. Their first full-length, Kezia—a conceptual effort the members labeled a “situationist requiem”—appeared in 2005. Early the next year the group signed with Vagrant, prompting a U.S. reissue of Kezia that April. Fortress, their sophomore album, surfaced in 2008 to widespread critical praise. The third long-player, Scurrilous, followed in March 2011. In 2013 Moe Carlson, the original drummer and co-founder, departed amicably while the band delivered its fourth studio album, Volition, funded entirely through an Indiegogo campaign. Bassist Arif Mirabdolbaghi exited the following year; producer Cameron McLellan stepped in as an unofficial replacement. During 2015 the ensemble revealed plans for the subscription-only EP Pacific Myth, whose six songs would roll out monthly on Bandcamp to paying subscribers through March 2016. Their fifth LP, Palimpsest, arrived in June 2020 and channeled the group’s political convictions into commentary on contemporary American concerns ranging from propaganda to imperialism.