Protafield are a band with some stories to tell even before they’ve released their debut album ‘Nemesis’. Take for example vocalist Jayce Lewis’s long-standing connection with non-other than Darth Vader. “Dave Prowse (actor who played Darth in the original Star Wars trilogy) has been a continuous integral part to my whole career, driving things forward and also finding angles to introduce me to people in the film business interested in music.” Hmm…
The four-piece from “all parts” of the UK also name-drop Fear Factory frontman Burton C Bell as the man who both named and ‘re-branded’ Protafield. As you’d expect from the connection, their music is industrial metal with all the sampling and distorted vocals that come with it. What is up for debate is what they are really offering the world.
I recall around ten years ago I’d listen to a lot of this sort of stuff with interest – whether it be Ministry, Earthtone9, Pitchshifter or even the more commercially viable (and rather hilarious) Static-X. Nine Inch Nails of course will always be considered pioneers within the genre, but Protafield are a long way from that. They do nothing to take the sound forwards from what it was back then – a mechanical, grinding cacophony over a dance beat.
Now I’ve given ‘Nemesis’ a good few listens in a vain attempt to try and plunge its depths, to seek out untapped levels of sophistication that weren’t immediately apparent. But these levels just don’t seem to be forthcoming. Hearing this stuff in the year 2014 just seems ridiculously outdated, like seeing special effects from a 90s film and thinking how poor they look now. They were merely a quirk of their era.
Lewis’s vocal is a flat, chanting yell that stomps along to the beat (basically just think of Fear Factory – it’s exactly that, no different). It’s uninspiring and dull. Protafield managed to convince Queen’s Roger Taylor to join in on one number and Gary Numan on another. Neither legend can do anything to save either track, which tells you all you need to know.
It’s difficult to tell what angle Protafield are going for with their apparent solicitation of the film industry. They’d certainly make a good soundtrack for a sci-fi involving some stompy robots and maybe some Halo-looking dudes shooting some aliens in a future post-apolcalyptic nightmarish landscape.
But as for something you’d want to listen to on your own, on your headphones, with your friends or in a club…well I cannot for a second fathom why anyone would choose this. Even for the niche element out there to whom this genre is still relevant; I can’t help but think that they would still call this a poor man’s attempt to rival their favourites.
1/5
‘Nemesis’ by Protafield is out now on Caroline Music.
Protafield links: Facebook|Twitter|Website
Words by Alex Phelan (@listen_to_alex)
