The last time Protest the Hero came out with a new album was in early 2008, a little more than a year into the life of this site. At the time I raved about Fortress endlessly, and it ended up as #2 on my year-end list for 2008 topped only by Gojira’s The Way of All Flesh [side note: so many awesome records came out that year!]. It’ll be interesting to see how the MetalSucks Maniacs at large react to my pending coverage of Protest the Hero’s next record, which they’re supposedly working on right now. Our site’s readership has grown a ton since early 2008 and the amount of vitriol spewed our way in the comments section has vastly increased for better or worse. Back then our readers seemed to mostly support my penchant for prog wankery and really got behind Protest the Hero too; would it be the same these days?

The knock on PtH always seems to be that people don’t like their vocalist Rody Walker. I happen to think that he’s the icing on the cake, a truly unique vocalist that really brings something extra to a band full of amazing musicians. Whereas most bands of amazing musicians simply get a dude to scream over what they’re playing — so that people whose attention spans are too short to pay attention to an instrumental band won’t lose interest — Rody Walker really adds something to the formula, and what the other 4 dudes do is all the better for it. He’s a really talented vocalist too, and PtH certainly wouldn’t be the same without him.

But apparently MS reader Damien doesn’t agree, or perhaps he was just bored and fiddling around with the instrumental versions of Fortress that the band released when he created the below mix of “Sequoia Throne” with Randy Blythe’s vocals for the Wrath track “Fake Messiah” laid over top of it. It’s a cool concept, and though I feel like the use of Blythe’s vocals in the chorus could use work (seems too sparse), I think it’s pretty well done.

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I’m still not entirely convinced this whole Mel Gibson rant thing isn’t a publicity stunt. Mel Gibson is just too animated… it’s almost as if he’s acting. And, ya know, he is an actor. But everyone including Axl tells me I’m wrong and that his career is over. I guess we’ll see!

Anyhoo, this isn’t the first Mel Gibson / metal mash-up I’ve heard (see: the Metal Injection Livecast on which Axl and I were guests) and it certainly won’t be the last, but it’s pretty good. I appreciate the brevity of it, that all parts with lyrics have been edited out, and that there’s actually been some attention paid to the timing of it instead of just random clips pasted over top of a song. Props to Troy from the Opie & Anthony show for putting this together.

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Like most of the interwebs I’m pretty sick of mash-ups. It’s not that they can’t be entertaining, but the joke is over; we get it, metal combined with something distinctly not metal makes for laughs. Hardee har.

But every now and then a mash-up comes along that’s serious — as in, done to create something new and cool rather than solicit a chuckle. This mash-up of Erykah Badu’s famous song “On and On” with… well, I’m not exactly sure what metal song it’s mixed with… is one such mash-up. Sent in by longtime MS Maniac Mick Stingley, the mash-up comes from the Popdivas Go Metal collection put together by the band (or person?) Counterforce. I’d definitely be interested in getting my hands on mp3s of these tracks and I know our buddy Mick would too, so if any of you happen to have ‘em, surely by now you know how to get in touch with us to let us know.

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Ok so like I know that mash-ups are SO totally last year (or worse, the year before) and everyone is kinda sick of ‘em… but come on, you’re not really THAT sick of ‘em, are you? Especially ones that ironically juxtapose brutal metal bands with pop stars. Two minutes of your time for a good laugh. Cheerio!

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[Thanks: Corey Mitchell]

OK so like mash-ups are SO totally 2008 (or even 2007 or 2006) but sometimes one comes along that we just can’t resist sharing.

Like this mash-up of Meshuggah’s “Bleed” and Lady GaGa’s “Paparazzi,” which Pallomember, the YouTube user who created it, boasts has “0% pitch shift, 0% time conversion.” The mash-up gets off to a ho-hum start with a sync that basically just sounds like random vocals thrown on top of a random riff that happens to be in the same time signature, but once “Bleed” starts to change the vocals start to match up rather nicely.

I’m still reeling for the William Murderface / Lady GaGa comparison, but this is pretty cool too.

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Thanks to Suckalo Alex Davis for sending this in.

I guess it’s an NIN kinda day around here. Check out this Brat-produced mash-up sent in by reader Travis Palano of Nine Inch Nails’ “The Hand That Feeds” and Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Of all the mash-ups we’ve posted, this is one of the best in terms of the key and pitch of the vocal track actually consistently matching up with the key and pitch of the instrumental. The chorus ends up sounding anti-climactic as compared to either of the two originals, but it’s still a pretty bangin’ mix.

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