Style: prog/math rock (mixed vocals)
Review by: Jonah
Country: US-CA
Release date: 19 March, 2019
NOTE: This album was originally included in the March 2019 edition of The Progressive Subway
Protest the Hero was probably the first prog band I really fell in love with. Fortress specifically was the soundtrack to much of my High School life, and damn was I head over heels for that album. The songwriting, the vocals, the noodly guitar, everything was perfect for where I was in my musical development at the time. However, that was quite a few years ago now, and my tastes have evolved and developed, as they do. And while I’m still fond of PtH, I find myself grow less and less fond of bands that ape their style. And thus we find ourselves with Raiju, a band that definitely, 100% sounds like Protest the Hero. Is this a good thing? It depends how much you’re desperately craving new PtH.
From the guitar noodling to the song structure to the vocal melody and oppressively high male vocals, everything about this album sounds like it was recorded by PtH in their earlier days, but with a bit less of the insanely prodigious amount of talent those PtH boys had. Technically speaking this is a wonderfully made album, the guitar is impressively composed and played, the bass is funky and thick, the drumming really rounds out the sound and the vocals, while sometimes a tad too high, are solid enough. However, I just can’t get past the fact that the sound is something I’ve heard 100 times already, and I like what I heard in the past more than what I’m hearing now. Also Road Trip Dragon Adventure sounds like a Blink-182 song and it makes me miserable.
If you are desperate for more PtH-core give this album a spin, but otherwise try something newer and more exciting, because this just feels like more of the same.
Recommended tracks: How Far We Fall, Fractured Light, Icorruptible
Recommended for fans of: Protest the Hero, Circa Survive, Red Handed Denial
Final verdict: 6/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | RYM page
Label: Independent
Raiju is:
– Scott Wagner (vocals)
– Bobby Carroll (guitars)
– Sean Johnson (guitars, vocals)
– Max Coley (bass)
– Vinnie Hecht (drums)
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