The Protomen

I had planned to do this feature on the 17th, actually, but real life started hitting hard and fast. That weekend, one of my cousins from California visited. The next weekend, I went to see one of my brothers who flew over from his post at the Pentagon. I have also been desperately making vacation preparations. Next week, I'll be flying off to Dublin to go stay with my sister for a week. Since I won't have much internet access over there, I figured I needed to get something out ASAP. So, here I am. Let's get down to business.

This week, I'm featuring The Protomen. Oh boy, where do I even start with these guys. Well, they're a rock group hailing from Nashville, Tennessee and have been active (in some form or another) since 2003. The band currently contains a whopping nine members whose real names are unknown. Their claim to fame? They've crafted a rock opera inspired by the original Mega Man games on the NES. The Protomen have released two parts of the planned trilogy (their eponymous debut, and its follow up "The Father of Death"), and are working on the third. Each album forms a coherent story (The Father of Death is a prequel) with the musical genre shifting as appropriate. The apocalyptic Act I plays out like a lo-fi, punk rock, chip-tune take on Queen. Act II opens as a Western musical but closes as an 80's rock concert (the transition occurring during the instrumental "How the World Fell Under Darkness," and symbolizing the mechanization of society under Dr. Wily's rule).

I'll grant that the band is far from perfect in terms of technical skill. Some of their guitar leads in Act II are uninspired at best. There are moments where the vocals in Act I are uncomfortably off pitch. Act I also contains some audio artifacts (including a particularly jarring one somewhere in the middle of "Due Vendetta") that should have been eliminated somewhere in the process. Additionally, while Act I is intentionally lo-fi, the audible peaking (especially with the drums) can be headache inducing at sufficient volume.

Despite their flaws (which are certainly fewer in their recent output), The Protomen have created a convincing and emotionally compelling dystopian imagining of freaking Mega Man. Why? I have no idea, but I'm glad they did. Even in tracks where their musicianship falls a little short, their vision manages to still shine through. It's the strength of the band's vision and their storytelling that makes their epic such a captivating listen. You don't have to be a fan of Mega Man, driven by nostalgia (like me), to enjoy this. You just have to be interested in hearing a story told through songs. It's a tale of a man whose noble aims end up the undoing of all that he loved. It's the tale of cynicism versus idealism, of hope versus pessimism, of brother versus brother. At the end of the day, it's a tale that asks if humanity, jaded and indifferent, is truly worth saving. Give it a listen, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.