Protest the Hero is a Canadian progressive metal band from Whitby, Ontario. Originally named Happy Go Lucky, the band changed their name to Protest the Hero, then released their debut EP, Search for the Truth, in 2002. In 2005, the band released their first album Kezia on Canadian indie label Underground Operations.
On January 23, 2006, the band signed with Vagrant Records for Kezia's American release on April 4, 2006. Their second album, Fortress was released by Underground Operations in Canada and by Vagrant Records worldwide on January 29, 2008. The band released their third studio album, Scurrilous, on March 22, 2011.
Expressing frustrations with record labels, in January of 2013 the band announced that they would crowdfund their fourth album. The Indiegogo campaign was a runaway success, and the independently-released Volition debuted on October 29, 2013, distributed with the help of Razor & Tie. In October of 2015, the band announced that their fifth release would take the form of a subscription service using Bandcamp entitled Pacific Myth.
The band started the production process of their upcoming album in January 2018, but after vocalist Rody Walker experienced some issues with his voice during the Fortress 10th Anniversary Tour, in June 2018, the band released a statement revealing they were postponing the new record.
During this time, the band continued work on the upcoming album and after vocalist Rody Walker successfully recovered from vocal issues, were able to complete their follow-up to 2013's Volition, titled Palimpsest, which was released on June 18, 2020.