REVIEW: PROTEAN SHIELD (SELF TITLED)

An upstart epic metal band from Greece brings the Hellenic heaviness to bear in a strong debut album.

Protean Shield are an epic heavy metal band from Athens and that might give you an idea of what you’re in for if you decide to add this one to your rotation. Greece might be the country that loves heroic power metal the most behind Germany and Sweden! This is epic metal in the tradition of Manilla Road but with much more power metal influences. If that sounds like a winning combination for you, then this album might be the shot of iron into your veins that you’ve been looking for. Let’s read the words from our buddies at No Remorse Records to learn more:

PROTEAN SHIELD from Greece delivers Epic Heavy Metal, adventurous
and poetic, immersing the listener into sieges, raids full of revenge,
heroic battles and far away travels, but also dark and romantic, bringing
to life tales of despair, longing and eternal love.

Recommended for fans of Eternal Champion, Visigoth, Battleroar, Wrathblade, Manilla Road and The Lord Weird
Slough Feg, the debut full-length of PROTEAN SHIELD is an elegant Epic Heavy Metal album, replete with frequent rhythmic shifts and frantic riffs, with a primary goal to create and offer a compelling storytelling.
–No Remorse Records

That’s a short and sweet, but hefty promise to make in regards to the album’s sound. Luckily the album does deliver and hits the mark if you’re in the mood for heightened historical accounts and pulp sensibilities. Let’s break it down track by track:

1. Protean Shield starts off the album with a bonus for being ballsy! It’s not just a title track, but it’s the band’s name as well! You had better make a statement with that kind of move and thankfully the band pulls it off. The guitar leads are tasty, the riffs are heavy, and the vocals are perfectly idiosyncratic. This isn’t strictly Euro Power Metal or steel-toed American Underground, but a unique fusion of the two. This opener lets the listener know that they’re getting something different from the norm.

2. 47 Ronin is a heavy metal take on a seminal tale from Japanese history. So many versions of the story have been told that it even has its own genre: the “Chūshingura.” The epic metal formula works so well here and the band uses it to full effect. Outrageous shredding and a memorable chorus add an operatic touch to this historical retelling.

3. Stormbringer got my ears perked up immediately. If you mention anything related to underrated fantasy author Michael Moorcock and his Eternal Champion multiverse, you’ve got my attention. Speedy riffs and a vocal approach that deftly navigates through the realm of both eager storytelling and aggressive doom-saying prophecy make this a fun musical elocution on the magical sword wielded by pulp icon Elric of Melniboné.

4. Lament is a short musical passage that takes us to the next track…

5. Mariner’s Dream is a seafaring tale that would make Running Wild legend Rock ‘n’ Rolf shed a manly tear. I wish I could identify the musical scales that make something sound like it’s happening on the deck of a seafaring vessel, but you know it when you hear it. This takes a similar approach to what you would hear on a Running Wild album but with more of a Mediterranean flair. You can easily picture pirates on a galley, or Greek warriors of antiquity onboard a trireme. The sick bass section partway through the song is a very strong highlight.

6. The Pendulum kicks off with twin guitar acrobatics that a power metal fan would salivate over. We are then told a very operatic tale of torture from a dark time in the world’s history: The Spanish Inquisition. This sadistic “pendulum” torture method mostly likely never existed in history but was popularized in a short story by Edgar Allan Poe that embedded it into the popular consciousness. Thankfully, the twin guitar passages, solo, and double kick drumming are very real. These strong elements complete this track.

7. Sin And Dream is carried by a melodic, galloping twin guitar riff. Keyboards add texture and help to create a more wistful atmosphere. The track eventually takes a more sinister and technical turn. Blazing guitar solos hammer home this tale of light versus dark.

8. Steel of Ages is unfortunately the weakest track on this album. Is it bad? Not at all. My issue with the track is that it’s the most conventional one of the bunch. This one hits the medieval/fantasy marks, but you can’t help feeling like you’ve heard it before. It’s a little too familiar for my taste.

9. Dancers At The End Of Time is the epic closer you would hope for from a band in the “epic metal” genre. This has all the goodness you could want: slow, clean instrumental passages, overwrought vocals, time changes, and guitar licks adroitly weaving in and out of each other to tell this long form story. This song is an achievement and it’s a fantastic way to bring this album home.

Wrapping Up:

Protean Shield‘s self-titled debut is what I would consider a rousing success. It has a good balance of European showmanship, American grit, and a unique hint of Greek melodrama that avoids becoming self-parody. There is a lot of good metal coming out of Greece at the moment but this album deserves your time because of how different it is. It’s a lot of disparate elements coming together better than you would expect. The word “protean” comes from the Greek god Proteus, who was able to change his form at will. We now use the word to mean versatile, or adaptable, and that works for this band as they deftly drift from subject to subject in each track. The description for the band from No Remorse is very apt. If you are a fan of Manilla Road, and more specifically, The Lord Weird Slough Feg, you will find this album to be most rewarding. Check this one out, metalheads. It’s worth a shot (from the bow of your trireme!)