I was just discussing music with Paul Tremblay via email, and I noticed that Trivium has their instrumental nigh-masterpiece The Crusade up on their MySpace page. I demand you go listen to it. Look, it’s instrumental, okay? There’s no screaming vocals, just blistering, bad-ass guitar work.

Also, while you’re at it, check out the video for “Heretics & Killers” by Protest the Hero. It’s bizarre–it’s got the band dressed up as the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz, but they’re all in the real world and out of work. It really must be seen. Now, I’ll warn you all with delicate auditory sensibilities: They’re not nearly as accessible as the instrumental Trivium track, though they’ve also got some blistering, bad-ass guitar work.

Protest the Hero‘s rapidly becoming my favorite band, despite their limited amount of output thus far in their young careers. They seem to pilfer the conventions of various metal and punk subgenres, which when combined together form a unique sound. The instrumentation is complex, and so are the lyrics. Check out what it says about their album Kezia on Wikipedia:

Kezia is a “situationist requiem”, similar to a concept album in that it tells a story. It is an elegy of a young woman named Kezia, the supposed savior of mankind, and her execution that is thought to be able to save mankind from its poverty, after the killing of God. The story is chronicled in the perspective of three characters: The Prison Priest, The Prison Guard/Gunman, and Kezia herself. Each character is designated a section containing three songs, with a single retrospective finale concluding the album. The three characters represent an aspect of the bandmembers themselves, endowing artistic fingerprints to a deeply personal album.

Check out the lyrics too; they’re wild.

Incidentally, if anyone knows how to get a hold of PTH’s Search for Truth album, or any of the other songs listed under “other songs” on that lyrics page, let me know!