User Score
Generally favorable reviews- based on 143 Ratings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 110 out of 143
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Mixed: 7 out of 143
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Negative: 26 out of 143
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[Anonymous]Apr 1, 2008Awesome. Just awesome
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SriousMar 23, 2008Anyone who calls this album "emo" or clearly has no clue what they are talking about. "Emo" has turned into some sort of blanket insult that covers any type of metal that doesn't meet the precise genre definitions as decreed by some closed-minded metal know-it-all.
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bobMar 17, 2008This website needs to raise its limit for the amount of reviews required to make an album considered the highest rated for 2008. Even looking at past years, its a joke that some of these albums have such high ratings when there are reviews that would lower the overall score that metacritic is too lazy to go back and correct.
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IggylMar 31, 200890? Oh man...I hope more critics review this album, because this album doesn't deserve this high rating at all. The band is really good with instruments, but this album is just a mess. It sounds like all the other metalcore bands out there.
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MeYouApr 1, 2008Hey, it's average score is actually 85. Oh, and this album sucks. . . really bad.
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TakisL.Feb 18, 2008Nonsense album,nonsense band,nonsense kind of music.. It's not metal, it's not hardcore, it's not punk.. Totally disgusting!
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MariaGApr 13, 2008Bad crap...what a hell is with this rating.
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DShawApr 3, 2008It's pretty bad, I'm getting tired of this stuff, young guys ripping off old classics.
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GregF.May 10, 2008
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NellyT.Apr 1, 2008Septic stuff.
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FelipeP.Feb 29, 2008the voice is horrible, and it's emo...
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RaelTMar 17, 2008It is simply, pure crap... This 90 average makes me sick... It is the worse rating of an album on Metacritic I can remember, and I read this website since its start
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ChrisN.Mar 24, 2008Too much noise, anything "visionary" about this album is drowned out. It's almost impossible to listen to; I really don't get all the excitement. Also, Franklin T needs to get a life and move out of his mom's house.
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EddM.Apr 2, 2008Although the 90% average is slightly high, this is definately an album well worth listening to for fans of metal, protest, or for people who just want to try something new.
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JiminyC.Apr 1, 2008
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JordanS.Apr 1, 2008
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TonyB.Apr 1, 2008
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PAbrahamApr 3, 2008Protest is simply one the most awesome bands ever. 10/10 !!! Those who cannot like this must be making conclusions on a single listen. Complex music deserves a few more spins obviously.
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MikeM.May 1, 2008Great album, if you like metal at all give it a listen. Opinions are like culos, everyone's got one so judge this for yourself. This cd is one that I never leave the house without.
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JerM.May 8, 2008I love how people criticize an album for its "emo" vocals etc. In order to properly judge an album and give it an unbiased rating people can't go into the review expecting something or alreay labelling the artists. Meerely listen, observe, and state your opinions and above all, know what you're talking about before you give something a mediocre rating.
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ChrisFeb 16, 2008
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NeilFeb 18, 2008This album kicks major ass!! Great job eh...these Canadiens really rock. Excellent musicianship mixed with some really great melodies. I haven't been this pumped about a band since I first heard Killswitch Engage. Great job guys!!
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DavidFeb 22, 2008This is already in the running for best album of the year from me... and it was only released in January!
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AlecMacD.Mar 23, 2008This album does everything that most relevant metal bands are doing today, but combines all these elements into one package that is not only extremely tech., but also very fun to listen to.
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MattH.Mar 31, 2008Definately different than Kezia, but still totally awesome. I don't understand why people who dont like a certain kind of music, rate a good band poorly. Jerks.
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JamesP.Apr 1, 2008
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TomP.Apr 15, 2008
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DeclanE.Apr 20, 2008
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SethV.Apr 2, 2008This band is simply AMAZING.
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GilbertT.Apr 22, 2008The emo vocals take a while to get used to , but once I got past that I realized how awesome it is. If you are into technical metal you will love the guitar work on this, and I love how they switch genres so effortlessly without making it sound forced or gimmicky.
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ZackB.Apr 9, 2008Protest have achieved a monolith of a metal album. Creative melodies and catchy hooks, adeptly weave into an insanely technical web of high-energy musicianship. They soar high above the sea of mediocrity that is currently the contemporary metal scene.
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TommyR.Jun 1, 2008Amazing band. Amazing album. Not as good as Kezia in my personal opinion, but still a spectacular record.
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SamYAug 16, 2008
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diediediehardFeb 15, 2008I listened to this album after a friend said I may like it. My initial opinion was that the guitars sounded terrible, too much treble and over - produced. This led me to believe that this style of music has been milked many times before, so I deleted the file, in my opinion there are far better bands than this within the same genre - dillnger escape plan to name one.
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AgustínL.Feb 16, 2008I had to give it a 10 to balance out the mess that diediedie hard did but overall this is a great album sometimes i have my doubts of some transitions as some one before said, and the voice its not precisely my cup of tea, but in a whole the album is awesome.
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JoshB.Feb 19, 2008Being a big fan of Kezia, I had high expectations for this album. They were met and exceeded.
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TobyW.Feb 22, 2008I had never heard of this band but I picked up the album based on the reviews. I really like it. I find a lot of metal heads tend to be extremely closed-minded, listening only to their one or two little niche sub-sub-genres and proclaiming every other kind of metal to be "crap". I suspect as this album stradles quite a few different sub-genres that it will get panned by a lot of these people.
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EvanFeb 27, 2008I liked most of Protest's first album, Kezia, and was quite hopeful that Fortress would be pretty good too. However, I was actually blown away by how much the band had changed, for the better, and it was almost like listening to a different band altogether. Already a player for my favorite CD of the year.
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BrandonS.Feb 27, 2008These guys are great instrumentalists, but the dio type singing destroys this album for me, I just can't get into it.
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AleS.Mar 11, 2008Not Impressive.
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LiamS.Mar 17, 2008these guys fall somewhere towards the bottom of the trendy emo/metalcore pile. i can't hear anything original in what they're doing.
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FranklinT.Mar 18, 2008
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XavierL.Mar 18, 2008If you give lower then a perfect score then you should never listen to music again. This is not only the best album of the year, but is the greatest album of all time.
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A.A.Mar 19, 2008Epic enough said.
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NickC.Mar 24, 2008Anyone who cannot appreciate this album is quite unfortunate. This is by far one of the most talented bands on the planet whether you like this style of music or not.
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DanielT.Mar 25, 2008Even better than Kezia
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DevinMar 3, 2008Utterly intolerable, over-the-top opera metal that should be banished to the 80s where it belongs. An ability to play one's guitar or drums very quickly does not an artistic album make, and this kind of hollow theatrical nonsense is about as far as one can get.
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DougH.Mar 4, 2008Best metal album this year.
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StefanApr 13, 2008
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MattA.Apr 30, 2008Thank God for the cokemachineglow review to even out the score from the metal dicksucking reviews from everyone else. Admittedly, metal has never been my cup of tea, but the good reviews prompted me to check it out, and this album simply reaffirmed my distaste for the genre. Only listen to if you like to play Warcraft on Friday nights and cut yourself.
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JonoB.May 2, 2008
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JustinS.May 4, 2008For god's sake, look at the reviewers who rated this album. No credibility Terrible record.
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KevinH.Jun 13, 2008
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MislavJul 13, 2008Truly epic music. The musicians are excellent, and the singer is great too. He has a good vocal range and voice as well as a scream and growl. It's not the kind of music everyone will appreciate, but it's awesome. I suggest listening to samples to see if you like it.
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MattF.Feb 15, 2008Some of the lyrics are a bit weak, and some songs (Bone Marrow) have jarring random parts and really don't transition well between them, but overall, this is one of the most interesting, enjoyable albums I've heard in years.
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SeanFeb 24, 2008This is probably one of the best albums I've ever heard. This is better then Kezia (Kezia is still amazing though). It's a lot more heavier. The lyrics are amazing. The guitars are so technical. Everything about this album rocks, all the songs are great.
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EricC.Feb 28, 2008
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JeffD.Mar 16, 2008An excellent follow-up to Kezia, expanding on that album's scope and technical proficiency. A must-listen for fans of Protest's previous work and those who like their metal at light speed with a healthy dose of genre-bending attention deficiency.
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PhilthMar 21, 2008
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AlexandreM.Mar 25, 2008Absolutely insane from beginning to end. A breath of fresh air in the metal universe.
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SoupS.Mar 27, 2008This album is terrible. This band is an embarrassment to what metal is really about. It's just standard, boring, haircore. The same thing that's been sucking the soul out of metal for the past five or six years or so. Where are the reviews from real magazines, anyway?
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kgcApr 14, 2008This is an amazing album and took a long time to make and those of you saying it is bad and you are 'tired of this stuff' you might as well keep it to yourselves because you have no idea what you are talking about. i have no idea what kind of music you like but iron maiden is an awesome band and is better than most.
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IlovepthAug 12, 2008
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Sep 3, 2010Really melodic stuff. It's in fact a strong mix of different genres (i think form harcore there only few beatdown parts left). There is a strong infuence of heavy metal and everything you can ever imagine
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Dec 5, 2016Still firmly believe that this holds up to be one of the most impressive albums of all time. The interesting themes covered using Walker's enthralling, almost operatic style of singing, paired with the most overwhelming guitar melodies offers a listening experience like no other
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Feb 11, 2022A good album with crazy ideas in the composition. Not their best and not their most mature album, but still a unique one.
Awards & Rankings
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It's a scarily mature album for a bunch of 21 year olds to have recorded, and the pairing of its ambitious lyrical concepts and motivated songwriting is something to be admired.
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Protest the Hero is having fun with their creativity here, and Fortress is a better album for it.
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Fortress stands out as gratifyingly heavy and heady.