PROTOGONOS “Ex Nihilo”

Self Released, 2018

Music: Melodic Metalcore

Website: https://m.facebook.com/ProtogonosOfficiel/

Duration: 22:00 minutes (5 tracks)

Country: France

2018 have already been a good year for underground metal scene with a lot of releases reaching the mainstream audience easier than it was before last year. With a ton of exciting releases lined up in front of us, I have a good feeling about 2018 and I hope it does better than a mediocre 2017. This year I’m on a quest to find more Metalcore and Death Metal bands hidden under the radar so as to hand them the respect and recognition which they deserve. I have already covered a fair share of Underground releases and I’m planning on doing more. Here is one more to add to that list.

Gothenburg style Metalcore has always been a fascination for me. Even though the genre itself is quite unoriginal​ and stereotypical, I love the fact that this scene is not even close to be dead. Melodic Metalcore is probably one among the most active genres at the moment. I’ve been trying to cover all the ongoing scenes separately by reviewing some albums. This time around, I was fortunate to have the French metal outfit Protogonos’ debut abum Ex Nihilo promo with me.

I still appreciate the fact that the folks at Protogonos are trying to get out of the stereotypical formula of Melodic Metalcore. Yes, you do find some At the gates-esque riffs yet you have an entirely different song structure. The songs are not breakdown centric but vacates a fair outlet for some of the breakdowns. Deliverance is entirely different and, ta-da!, you do get some juicy solos on the album. Actually, this was a surprise for me as most of the Melodic Metalcore bands are more focused on writing brutal breakdowns and they give a very little attention to the guitar solos.

That all being said, Protogonos have done a great job on writing their debut record. Even though the songs are hard to digest for the first time, but once you dig in deep you will surely find the songs addictive and memorable. At the moment I’m adding Erased to my playlist because the song has a killer solo at the end. Overall, a good effort by a new band. A matured version of Protogonos will surely make a stronger impact on the metalcore scene and I look forward to that version. I’m excited to see what they could put up next.

Line-up:

Vocals : Nico
Lead Guitar : Ben
Rythm Guitar : Aurelien
Bass : Nick
Drums : Jeremy

Tracklist:

01. Ex Nihilo
02. Erased
03. I, the Heartless
04. Fading the Reality
05. Same Blood, Same Weakness

Rate: 8.0/10