Photo by Eric Beiers

The last few years have been good to Canada’s prog-core wizards Protest The Hero. They’ve always had a large and passionate fan-base, but a few years ago things began to get a bit bigger. The crowdfunding campaign for their 2013 album Volition was an overwhelming success. It brought in new fans and was very well-received by the press. The record would go on to be named Metal/Hard Album of the Year at the Juno Awards. In 2015 they took the process a step further with their six song EP Pacific Myth. The release was treated like a subscription service, as fans who signed up received a new song with original artwork once a month.

Late last year the EP was finally released to the general public, and the band hit the road for a short Canadian tour with A Wilhelm Scream, which culminated at Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall and the 2016 edition of the Stay Warm mini-fest. Before the show I sat down for the first time in a long time with vocalist Rody Walker to talk about their recent success, and how it’s changed them as a band.

Shot and Edited by Eric Beiers 

Protest The Hero are currently on the road in North America as direct support for August Burns Red. The tour has one final Canadian date on February 16th in Toronto at the Phoenix Concert Theatre. Pacific Myth has recently delivered the band their second Juno nomination, and you can steam the album here. Rody Walker also has a new punk side project called Mystery Weekend, with their debut album Surprise! coming out on February 17th. Have a listen here.