Chaotic, Canadian, and downright clever. On their new record Fortress, Protest The Hero demonstrate an astonishing blend of progressive chops, pop sensibility, and an in-depth knowledge of epic historical battles. REAX caught vocalist Rody Walker on a train to Toronto to see The Fall of Troy - he was very excited.

REAX: Your new disc seems to be such an artful marriage of technical skill and melodic hooks - both brutal and beautiful at the same time. How do you keep each track sounding so fresh?
Rody Walker: Um, I don't know, you know, we just try to write music that is sincere to the people that we are. Truthfully, the music comes from a place that is very A.D.D.-oriented. We get bored so quickly that we've got to keep progressing and keep making things more difficult to comprehend for ourselves so that, you know, two years down the line when we're still playing the songs, we can still be interested.

REAX: Some of your lyrics seem rather steeped in fantasy while others are very much grounded in the real world. Is there an overall uniting message to Fortress?
RW: Um, not really. Our bass player Arif Mirabdolbaghi writes the lyrics, so he's probably more apt to answer the question. However, there is definitely a general theme of political, social, and overall battles throughout history, and that's where you get the more grounded moments, where we're talking about more present-day sort of stuff as opposed to when we're talking about Genghis Kahn, or Star Trek.

REAX: What's your favorite cut on the disc?
RW: Sometimes I think my favorite track is "Limb From Limb" and sometimes I think my favorite track is "Bone Marrow." It's hard to say 'cause I don't really listen to the disc myself. I enjoy performing "Limb From Limb" live, so I'm gonna go with that because it challenges me.

REAX: Where do you draw your ideas from when it comes to the fantasy aspect?
RW: There are a few bands that we all collectively enjoy, which is actually a rarity within the band. We're definitely all big fans of Styx, Aeon, Dream Theater, and Extreme. Just a bunch of weird little mixes of stuff.

REAX: To get a little perspective for all us sweaty Floridians, what's it like growing up in Canada?
RW: I imagine it's not too different from growing up in the United States. You know, we grew up in the suburbs, so it's basically just a barren wasteland of middle-aged people who are going to move to Florida and die. Laughs There's nothing really to do except for jump off the highway. There's a movie theater and a Boston Pizza, and that's about it. So you get bored and you get drunk a lot, you sit in parks with 40s of beer, and eventually you do something with your life or you fade away. So I guess we decided to write music.

REAX: Your melodic vocal on the record may just be one of the most polished in metal at the moment. Did you have any formal training?
RW: Well, first of all thank you! Secondly, I do have training. I did a year of Operatic, when I was a lot younger, like 17. I'm not sure it helped me too much and I'm pretty sure my teacher sexually assaulted me.

REAX: You've recently been touring with Silverstein and The Devil Wears Prada. Any high or low points?
RW: Um, I don't know, the Canadian part was pretty good because our fans came out and supported us. The American part got a little strange, because all those bands are all so much bigger than us in the United States that it was basically an audience of strictly their fans. Our much smaller fanbase was having to pay a ridiculous ticket price to come see us on a show that I knew our fans aren't going to enjoy, so I think the American leg was a little disillusioning for our fans.

REAX: You have a reputation for being a bit of a joker live. What was your most over-the-top moment so far?
RW: We got kicked off of Warped Tour two years ago because I tried to segregate the audience. Laughs I was just joking around obviously, and saying 'black people here, brown people here, white people here' and they actually started splitting up and doing it! It was pretty funny, but I got a bit of a talking to by some of the bands on the tour and Warped founder Kevin Lyman, and they weren't pleased with my jokes, finding them of a very un-P.C. nature. I think everyone's just a little too uptight.

Protest The Hero on the Warped Tour:
July 9 - Lakewood Amphitheatre, Atlanta
July 10 - Central Florida Fairgrounds, Orlando
July 11 - Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg
July 12 - Bicentennial Park, Miami
July 13 - St. Johns County Fairgrounds, Jacksonville

myspace.com/protestthehero