Act II: The Father of Death

This record is pretty immense.
At just under an hour long, it's an epic tale inspired by the Megaman video game series, more specifically the classic ones. This is The Protomen's second album, and functions as a prequel to their debut LP (act one), in which the story of Dr. Light and Dr. Wily is outlined and the setting for the first album is built. It's a pretty ambitious project and one that pays off extremely well.

The narrative within the music is supplemented by liner notes outlining the finer details of the story that the lyrics can't portray on their own, so in order to fully immerse yourself in the story, reading along to the lyrics is recommended. The storytelling is superb by the way. Not only are the characters all sung by different vocalists, but the singing is operatic at times, and clearly delivered in a way that gives a cinematic and stage-play feel to everything. Choruses and intense moments in the music are backed by epic choirs, and the compositions of the music help paint the scene perfectly.

The first half of the record is set right before the world goes to hell. The instrumentation is very organic and filled with horns and pianos, acoustic and western flavored guitars, and lots of staccato and marching drum lines. Subtle and brooding passages are met with large swells as the moods rise and fall with intensity. The vocals of Dr. Light are weary and heartbroken, the vocals of Dr. Wily are smooth and silver-tongued, and Emily's are bold and hopeful. It really feels like listening to a stage production of a rock opera.

At the halfway point, we have a wonderful instrumental that sits as a passage of time, transitioning from a primitive city to a world of cybernetic improvements in the future as the more organic music is phased out for synth-laden melodies and electronic drum rhythms. A new character is introduced with Joe, who sings with a fiery passion and a powerful voice. His songs are some of my favorites on here. "Break Out" is backed by a heartbeat-like pulsating drum as the band comes into full swing as a disenfranchised youth lashes out against an oppressive city. "Keep Quiet" is a rousing number detailing a fight scene, and "Light Up The Night' is this album's shining musical moment as an urgent and hard rocking song about hope and desperation drives our heroes forward to retribution. The record ends on an epic note as well, but I shall not spoil those moments as they are worth experiencing.

As a musical experience this record is incredible. There's only one thing holding this back from being perfect, and that it all feels a massive stage production and less like a band playing music together. While that may seem like a silly gripe, I have a confession to make, musicals and stage productions are not my favorite. I prefer hearing a bunch of people gather together to make music and jam and have fun, or come together to make wonderful artistic statements. While this concept record was a great listen, that human camaraderie element was just missing for me. Oh well! It's like Ayreon's music, I love it, but sometimes it feels too Broadway for me.

Still that being said.

If you like video games but think music inspired by such is too gimmicky, or relies on context to be enjoyable, I suggest trying this out. It's a really well told sci-fi tale that sets the stage for more epic music to come (and geez it's been 13 years already can we get more please????). If you like your 80's synth-rock and Spaghetti Western on the same plate, this one's for you.

"When you see Emily... Tell her I still got work to do."