EPK – Protokult – Transcending The Ruins (2020)
Publicist – Jon Asher – asher[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
For fans of Arkona, Korpiklaani, Windir, Nightwish, Turisas, Skyforger
Album Title: Transcending The Ruins
Release Date: October 1, 2020
Label: Self-Release
Protokult.com| Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube
Sales Links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music
STORY ANGLES / FUN FACTS:
1. The band is consistently featured on Spectre Media Group’s (Glenn Fricker) YouTube videos as backing music, as well as occasionally having members featured on the show. The band has had a long relationship with Glenn Fricker, having recorded both Marzena and No Beer In Heaven.
2. Four out of five of the members are bilingual.
3. Often at shows and in music videos, they have ‘beer maidens’ or wenches; women in white dresses and corsets who come out on stage and pour willing audience members beer from a sacred Viking horn.
4. Bassist Davey Slowiak and frontman Martin Drozd are the only consistent original members since their inception in 2003.
5. The new album “Transcending the Ruins” was recorded at Union Sound studios in Toronto with Darren Mcgill and features an eclectic variety of talented guests from various other groups.
“they’ve got a good sense of humor, and they sound top-notch” – Metal Sucks
“boozy blast of heathen prog” – Team Rock
“Le metal a du talent.” – Metal France
“Ah this album was a pleasure to review. So many albums are a slog to get through, but I was sorry when No Beer In Heaven ended…All the band are excellent musicians and you can hear their joy at playing their music. Ekaterina brings another dimension to the band too; her vocals are nothing you’ve heard in metal before, and I love the touch she brings with the woodwind instruments…I love the track “Get Me A Beer” – it could be marketed as a cure for depression. Elsewhere, the contrast between folk and metal works very harmoniously: heavy and uplifting at the same time. Joyous stuff! The band also have a good sense of humour, and while they can be serious, this is an enjoyable life-affirming album to listen to, which is as it should be. Our lives are brief; we should try and enjoy our spell on this earth! I love the album artwork and presentation too. This is a band the world needs to hear more of. Highly recommended! – Hellbound
“a superb album. Protokult gives folk-metal a new nice dimension. Their progressive folk-metal approach is a very delicious one. Don’t let the ‘beer-titles’ fool you, the band goals are far beyond beer-humpaa. They’re far more serious, despite of the sometimes quite merry tunes. This is one of the best folk-metal albums I’ve heard this year” – Folk-Metal.nl
“Protokult is a colourful collective, made up of four guys and a lady…It is a versatile album…progressive twists and turns in the songs and surprising approaches.” – Lords of Metal
“Let’s mark the list down, shall we: Awesome Folk music spanning different areas of sound and direction, check! Creative and art work based around an old fashioned beer hall, check! And last, but certainly not least, BEER themed music!!!!.” – Metal Temple
“Anyone who has seen this band live knows that the beer maidens will be pouring potent potables into ever thirsty mouths at the front of the stage. Before this delightful feature comes to fruition, the fans come in close, sing along, and dance the metal jig during the pagan musical onslaught from the band. We are instantly transported to villages, and forests of another era.” – Metal Master Kingdom (Live Review)
“All in all No Beer In Heaven is an extra large package of dark folk metal here to drink and party with you. If you’re a folk fan, be sure to give them a listen. The album is a solid piece and an enjoyment to even non-folk fans. Oh, and they also love the ‘Water of Life’ (that is vodka if you didn’t know already).” – Two Guys Metal Reviews
““Get Me a Beer!” is a hearty and raucous opener and one that will get heads bobbing (and banging) no doubt.” – Femme Metal Webzine
“They belong amongst the ranks of bands like Moonsorrow and Skyforger…Almost every song twists and turns through several folk metal transformations, without ever tapping into cheesy or overly tired clichés.”- Metal Observer (2010 review for Ancestral Anthems)
“Their songs pulse and writhe like a sinuous living thing.”- Exclaim (2012 review of Marzena)
L-R: Dawid (Bass), Kaveh Afshar (Percussion), Ekaterina (Vocals, Woodwinds), Martin Drozd (Vocals, Guitar, Synthesizer), Jack Neila (Rhythm and Lead Guitar)
As interests in history, paganism and folklore took an increasingly strong hold on folk metallers Protokult, they were inspired to unleash their debut album, “Ancestral Anthems” in 2009. With the first two pressings selling out in months, they vowed to take things to the next level while continuing to deliver a unique mix of Canadian and international influences. In 2011, they released their next offering, the EP “Marzena”, then followed by sophomore album “No Beer In Heaven” that was widely praised for its hooky fun-loving anthems, especially the single “Get Me A Beer!”.
Protokult’s goal? To unite its members’ diverse cultures into one sound, balancing tradition and folklore with heavy, thrash, and black metal for headbangers everywhere.
Over the past few years, the ever-evolving Protokult has graced the stage with the likes of Arkona, Turisas, Alestorm, Gloryhammer, Tengger Cavalry, Cellar Darling (X-Eluveitie) and Razor.
With beauty and the beast-like contrast between Ekaterina’s haunting vocals and the band’s metal rampage, they are ready to unveil their third full-length “Transcending The Ruins”, which is slated for release on October 1st, 2020. The album captures the reformed quintet at an all-time high, showcasing an impressive palette of powerful riffs, glorious onslaughts, and essentially reminds us, why we love heavy metal and it’s darker atmospheric shades.
Discography:
2020 – Transcending The Ruins – LP
2016 – Oy Kanada (single)
2016 – The Dark Stumble Home (Acoustic) – EP
2014 – No Beer In Heaven – LP
2011 – Marzena – EP
2009 – Ancestral Anthems – LP
Tours and Festivals:
2017 – Krampus Ball
2016 – Queens Of Metal (Montreal)
2015 – Toronto Folk Metal Fest
2014 – Vikingfest (Montreal)
2014 – Headbanging For a Cure (Toronto)
2012 – Paganfest (Toronto)
2012 – Headbanging For a Cure (Toronto)
2012 – Invasion Infernale Fest (Hamilton)
Music Videos:
2020 – Feed Your Demons
2017 – Get Me A Beer! (Live)
2016 – Oy Kanada!
2014 – Get Me A Beer!
Album Title: Transcending The Ruins
Release Date: October 1, 2020
Label: Self-Release
Track Listing:
1. Mark Of Thunder (6:45)
2. Feed Your Demons (6:25)
3. 1516 (Keeper of the Hops) (3:58)
4. Oy Kanada (5:29)
5. Troubled Lad (Slainte Mhaith) (4:30)
6. Na Gryanoi Nedele (1:47)
7. Rusalka (6:17)
8. Valley of Thorns (7:45)
9. Wenches (4:23)
10. Greet The Dawn (6:09)
11. Dead New World (15:23)
Album Length: 1:08:57
Album Credits:
• All songs performed by: Protokult
• All songs written by: Martin Drozd, Ekaterina
• Produced by: Protokult, Darren Mcgill
• Mixed by: Darren Mcgill
• Mastered by: Tyler Williams
• Album Artwork by: Marie Cherniy
• Member of SOCAN
• Canadian Content (MAPL)
Album Band Line Up:
Martin Drozd – guitar, vocals, keyboards, additional percussion, jawharp
Ekaterina – vocals, recorder,
Kaveh Afshar – drums
Jack Neila – rhythm and lead guitar
Dave Slowiak – bass, gang vocals
Live Band Line Up:
Martin Drozd – guitar and vocals
Dave Slowiak – bass and backup vocals
Ekaterina – vocals, recorder and synth
Jack Neila – guitar
Kaveh Afshar – drums
Guest musicians:
Quinn Strahl – electric violin
Matt Hilden (Vesication) – vocals
Joe Feral- vocals
Jesse Harvey (Ammo) – vocals
Cristina Marcu – operatic vocals
Ewelina Ferenc- folk vocals
Corktown trans-choir:
Jason Adamo, Geoff Hodsman, Andrei Sin, Davey White, Matt Hilden, Oliver Salathiel
