Protest the Hero | |
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Protest the Hero live @ Southern Ontario Metal Festival, August 2011
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Background information | |
Origin | Whitby, Ontario, Canada |
Genres | Progressive metal, mathcore, metalcore, punk rock (early) |
Years active | 2001 | –present
Labels | Vagrant, Underground Operations |
Associated acts | Cheddar Cheese & the Mousetrap, Lamb Of God, The Kindred, Mystery Weekend |
Website | Protestthehero.ca |
Members | Rody Walker Tim Millar Luke Hoskin Mike Ieradi |
Past members | Moe Carlson Arif Mirabdolbaghi Cam McLellan |
Protest the Hero is a Canadian progressive metal band from Whitby, Ontario. Originally named Happy Go Lucky, the band changed their name to Protest the Hero shortly before releasing their debut EP, Search for the Truth, in 2002. In 2005, the band released their first full-length album Kezia on Canadian indie label Underground Operations.
On January 23, 2006, the band signed with Vagrant Records for Kezia's American release on April 4, 2006. Their second full-length album, Fortress was released by Underground Operations in Canada and by Vagrant Records worldwide on January 29, 2008. The band released their third studio album, Scurrilous, on March 22, 2011.
Expressing frustrations with record labels, in January of 2013 the band announced that they would crowdfund their fourth full-length album. The Indiegogo campaign was a runaway success, and the independently-released Volition debuted on October 29, 2013, distributed with the help of Razor & Tie. In October of 2015, the band announced that their fifth release would take the form of a subscription service using Bandcamp entitled Pacific Myth.
The band started as Happy Go Lucky in 1999 and, shortly after, they recorded a 2-track demo (containing the songs "The 5th Commandment" and "Just Defy"). In 2002 they changed their name to Protest the Hero and released their first EP, Search for the Truth 7" vinyl, which included only two songs. They were included in the compilation (Coles) Notes from the Underground that same year. Luke Hoskin stated on his Formspring page that Search for the Truth was recorded when they were 13 years old. The day that the band members finished their senior finals, they went on a three-week "Rock the Vote" tour from Toronto to Halifax to garner recognition and raise awareness for the upcoming Canadian election.