In the very strange summer of 2020, the Canadians Protest The Hero’s Palimpsest became for many one of the quintessential pandemic escapism albums, with a progressive metal reinterpretation of the American dream that served as both escape and catharsis. Six years later, after overcoming health issues that bordered on debilitating, lineup changes, and tireless bumps in the road, the Canadians are back. Within, their first fully independent work, arrives articulated under the maxim of putting everything out there without inhibitions. Throughout its 35 tightly packed minutes, Rody Walker and his band explore how social collapse, nostalgia, loss, and greed shape our inner world. And while it doesn’t aim to compete with the crushing scale of heavyweights in their discography, it compensates with a sharper, more direct, and visceral delivery.
Musically, the album is a whirlwind where the agility of the most furious punk rock (evoking Propagandhi or Rise Against) collides head-on with the pyrotechnics of progressive metal. From the initial onslaught of «Mouthpiece» and «Fishhook» to the rhythmic madness of «Grandfather’s Axe» (which sounds exactly like what would happen if At the Drive-In and Faith No More jammed over a Testament riff), the band proves they haven’t lost a single second of their virtuosity. All this is interspersed with brief but subtle string breathers in «i. above» and «ii. below». However, the big differentiating element of Within is its brazen and controversial hybridization with pop-punk. This combination of hyper-catchy melodies with complex structures makes for an addictive and fun listen, although for the more purist prog ears, that distinct melodic formula might, at times, feel slightly predictable.
What ultimately elevates the whole is its overwhelming emotional beauty. Beneath the layers of impossible guitar acrobatics and frantic rhythms that might push you to take a painkiller, beats an impeccable melodic sensibility, embodied in the monumental figure of Rody Walker. With an unpredictable range à la System of a Down and an organic delivery, Walker marks a miraculous recovery after past problems that almost left him stranded. The climax arrives in the seven-minute closer «The Mariner», one of the most ambitious pieces in their catalog, where the vocalist recalls his vocal crisis mid-tour, quoting verses from Palimpsest itself. Within is, in short, a human and personal triumph, an album that makes your blood boil with rage one minute and leaves a lump in your throat the next, reminding us that, despite all the noise, there is still much human nature to prevail.