On the heels of wrapping the North American leg of their Fortress anniversary tour, Protest the Hero were gearing up to spend the summer touring the UK, Europe and Japan. However, those plans have now been put on hold due to some serious issues with singer Rody Walker's vocal health.
In a pair of statements from both Walker and the entire band, the Whitby, ON-bred metal outfit explained that the vocalist had been working through "issues with his voice" throughout their most recent tour. The issues also resurfaced during a recording session for the band's forthcoming fifth studio LP, which has yet to receive a title or release date.
"Early last week, our producer flew to Toronto to begin tracking vocals for our new record (LP 5) — something we have been quietly working on for a couple of years now," the band wrote in their statement. "After only a few hours in the vocal booth, Rody's vocal issues began to surface. Rody and our producer were forced to stop tracking — worried that he may do irreparable damage to his vocal chords [sic]."
The band's statement continued: "We have no other choice than to postpone our recording sessions, and cancel our tours this summer. As of this moment, there are no plans to make up these shows. The next time we visit your countries will be on a headline tour in support of our new album."
In his own statement, Walker wrote that he "completely frigged himself" on the North American leg of the Fortress tour, assuming "it would be like any other tour, a few days off and I'm good to go."
"I don't know whether it's my age or so many years of improperly using my voice, but it's not snapping back the way it once did," Walker continued. "I'm worried that heading back on tour would result in irreparable damage. So I'm going back to the basics, I'm going to figure out what I'm doing wrong and learn how to sing properly, all while attempting to record the new album."
Protest the Hero's last proper studio LP was 2013's Volition, which arrived independently after the band launched a wildly successful crowdfunding campaign.
More recently, the band released their Pacific Myth EP through a subscription-based series beginning in late 2015. A complete physical release of the effort was delivered in late 2016.
Walker also leant his vocal talents to offshoot Mystery Weekend, which also features his PTH bandmate Mike Ieradi on drums and guitarist Dan Hay (the Fully Down, Amos the Transparent). That group released debut LP Surprise! last February.
Read both statements from the group below.
In a pair of statements from both Walker and the entire band, the Whitby, ON-bred metal outfit explained that the vocalist had been working through "issues with his voice" throughout their most recent tour. The issues also resurfaced during a recording session for the band's forthcoming fifth studio LP, which has yet to receive a title or release date.
"Early last week, our producer flew to Toronto to begin tracking vocals for our new record (LP 5) — something we have been quietly working on for a couple of years now," the band wrote in their statement. "After only a few hours in the vocal booth, Rody's vocal issues began to surface. Rody and our producer were forced to stop tracking — worried that he may do irreparable damage to his vocal chords [sic]."
The band's statement continued: "We have no other choice than to postpone our recording sessions, and cancel our tours this summer. As of this moment, there are no plans to make up these shows. The next time we visit your countries will be on a headline tour in support of our new album."
In his own statement, Walker wrote that he "completely frigged himself" on the North American leg of the Fortress tour, assuming "it would be like any other tour, a few days off and I'm good to go."
"I don't know whether it's my age or so many years of improperly using my voice, but it's not snapping back the way it once did," Walker continued. "I'm worried that heading back on tour would result in irreparable damage. So I'm going back to the basics, I'm going to figure out what I'm doing wrong and learn how to sing properly, all while attempting to record the new album."
Protest the Hero's last proper studio LP was 2013's Volition, which arrived independently after the band launched a wildly successful crowdfunding campaign.
More recently, the band released their Pacific Myth EP through a subscription-based series beginning in late 2015. A complete physical release of the effort was delivered in late 2016.
Walker also leant his vocal talents to offshoot Mystery Weekend, which also features his PTH bandmate Mike Ieradi on drums and guitarist Dan Hay (the Fully Down, Amos the Transparent). That group released debut LP Surprise! last February.
Read both statements from the group below.
