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░ ██ ██ Artist: Protector ██ ██
▓ █░░ ■█ Album: Reanimated Homunculus █■ ░░█
■ █▓▀ █ Year: 2013 █ ▀▓█ ░
█ ▓ Rel. Date: 2013-09-28 ▓ █
▒ ▒ Genre: Death Metal ▒ ▒
█▄ ░ Label: HR Records ░ ▄█
░ █▄ ░ Source: CD ░ ▄█
░ █▓ Type: Album ▓█ ░
▓ █ Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo █ ░ ▓
▓ █ █ ░ ▓
▄ ■ ■ ▓ ■
░█ █░ ▀
█ One thing is crystal clear: Protector from █
█ Wolfsburg, Germany, are one of those bands that █
█ never really got the attention they deserved. How █
█ could it ever happen that such a great band with a █
█ sound uncompromising and aggressive like burning █
█ sulphur already on their first demo could be so █
█ neglected in the common histories of German █
█ thrash? Vocalist Martin Missy tries to find an █
█ explanation ôI think the reason was that we █
█ released our demo and first records ætoo lateÆ. At █
█ that time, around 1986, 1987, the big German █
█ thrash bands like Kreator, Sodom and Destruction █
█ were already established, and it had become more █
█ and more difficult for new thrash bands to make █
█ themselves heard. If we had released our demo in █
█ 1983 or 1984, we might have become as big as æThe █
█ Big 4 of German thrash metalÆ.ö █
█ There surely is some truth in these words. █
█ Listening to ProtectorÆs recordings of that time, █
█ one is instantly captured and excited by their raw █
█ power and innovative spirit. ôProtector of Deathö, █
█ ôMisanthropyö, ôGolemö and ôUrm the Madö are █
█ counted among the milestones in the history of █
█ death/thrash. █
█ Back in the days, the heart of German thrash beat █
█ in the famous Ruhr-area, where the sullen █
█ monuments of an era of heavy industrialisation █
█ provided a perfect backdrop for music that █
█ expressed juvenile power, insecurity and cold war █
█ angst at the same time. Protector however had █
█ their home base in a different part of the █
█ country, quite close to the then still intact █
█ German Wall. Protector were thus a bit isolated, █
█ though they did have some bonds with the furnaces █
█ of thrash that were glowing in the west: ôOur █
█ drummer Michael had some contact to the Ruhr-scene █
█ because he ran the Sodom fan club for a while. He █
█ also had been the vocalist of WolfsburgÆs first █
█ extreme metal band "Death Attack". When he started █
█ "Protector" together with Hansi Mⁿller, they █
█ wanted to become the most brutal band of all, at █
█ least in Germany.ö That definitely was an █
█ ambitious goal, and judging from ProtectorÆs aural █
█ legacy from the 80Æs, they werenÆt far from █
█ achieving it. Still, Protector never really grew █
█ beyond their underground status. How does Martin █
█ define the role Protector played in the early █
█ German thrash scene, especially with regard to █
█ their sound slowly progressing from thrash to █
█ death/thrash? ôI think we were just an underground █
█ band all the time, so it was difficult for us to █
█ make a real impact on the scene. But we had quite █
█ a few devoted fans, and that was reason enough for █
█ us to keep on going.ö So Martin keeps his focus on █
█ what is most important about metal: the fans. He █
█ is right about doing so, for it was a group of █
█ ardent fans who played an important role in the █
█ resurrection of Protector after they had disbanded █
█ in 2003, as we will see later. █
█ For what reason did the guys in Protector decide █
█ to call it quits, in the early years of the new █
█ millennium? Missy, who had been replaced by Olly █
█ Wiebel before moving to Sweden in 1995, canÆt █
█ really tell: ôWell, I would say that the band █
█ rather dissolved than split up. Between █
█ approximately 2001 and 2003 the band played no █
█ more gigs. First the guitar player and then the █
█ bass player left, and in the end it were only █
█ Marco Pape (drums) and Jacek Zander (vocals). I █
█ don't know the reason why the band stopped playing █
█ live. Maybe they got tired of it all, I don't █
█ knowö █
█ Protector had ceased to exist, but they had not █
█ been forgotten. DidnÆt I say something about the █
█ importance of the fans in the bandÆs history? Here █
█ we go: After having lived in Sweden for a while, █
█ and though being out of the game, Martin █
█ eventually gave in to fansÆ craving to see █
█ Protector playing live again. Together with a █
█ couple of Swedish musicians, namely Mathias █
█ Johansson (bass), Carl-Gustav Karlsson (drums) and █
█ Michael Carlsson (guitars) Martin formed a band █
█ quite similar to, but not quite like Protector, █
█ called ôMartin Missy and The Protectorsö: ôIn 2005 █
█ a metal head called Jonas Svensson came up with █
█ the idea of a Protector cover band with me on █
█ vocals. He put together the band in his hometown █
█ Uddevalla (about 500 km from Stockholm, where I █
█ live). In 2006 we started rehearsing together and █
█ did our first gigs. We played live more than 20 █
█ times, and our biggest gig was at the Chris █
█ Witchhunter tribute festival in 2009.ö Choosing █
█ the name ôMartin Missy and The Protectorsö was a █
█ clear sign that the idea had not been to reform █
█ the ôrealö Protector. Missy even proclaimed in █
█ public that he would never put the name █
█ ôProtectorö on a new record again. Yet sometimes █
█ things work out differently than from what the █
█ intentions had been, especially if they develop a █
█ power and dynamic of their own. ôIn 2011 we had █
█ played with Martin Missy and The Protectors for █
█ five years. The intention had always been to play █
█ only the old songs, but then my band colleagues █
█ came up with the idea that we should write some █
█ new songs. I thought it was a good idea, on the █
█ condition that the old band members of Protector █
█ wouldn't have any objections to this, and that the █
█ songs should be written in an old school styleö. █
█ All conditions were met, and the songs that were █
█ produced made Missy change his mind immediately. █
█ Decisions were made to release the new material on █
█ CD and Vinyl, starting with a demo and a split █
█ single, before a new full length was decided for. █
█ Now what do you need to put out a proper release? █
█ A proper record label. Protector luckily ended up █
█ with High Roller: ôWe were looking for a █
█ æmedium-sizedÆ record company with good █
█ connections and a worldwide net of distribution. I █
█ had already heard about High Roller Records, and █
█ Tormentor from Desaster, who is a friend of mine, █
█ told me to try and contact Steffen. All the guys █
█ at High Roller were really easy to have contact █
█ with, and a couple of weeks later we had signed █
█ the contract with High Roller.ö █
█ Now we got the band together again, the deal is █
█ signed, next comesà the new album of course! What █
█ can we expect from the new Protector? Will the █
█ band turn back to its roots in the 80Æs, will they █
█ be more deathy, like they used to be in the █
█ nineties, or did the relocation to Sweden have a █
█ big influence on how the new Protector will sound? █
█ ôIt will be a mix of brand new songs (two of them █
█ are actually written by me - the first songs I █
█ have ever written for the band), some songs that █
█ have already been released on the demo and the █
█ split between 2011 and 2012, and an old █
█ Protector-song from 2000 that we have made our own █
█ version of. We have tried to write all our songs █
█ in the old Protector-style, and we hope that both █
█ our old and new fans will like them.ö And what █
█ about the sound? ôThe new record will have its own █
█ sound. We've tried to keep it old school, to keep █
█ the raw feeling of the songs. It will probably █
█ sound a little bit more like the █
█ Protector-recordings from the 80Æs than the █
█ recordings from the 90Æs.ö Also, living in Sweden █
█ did not have any unwanted effects on the Protector █
█ sound. Missy and his band mates decided from the █
█ start that they didnÆt want their songs to sound █
█ like the Swedish death metal bands from the early █
█ nineties: ôWe wanted an 80Æs thrash metal sound, █
█ and I hope we have succeeded with that.ö Have █
█ they? You be the judge! █
▓ ▓
▒ ▒
░ 1. Sons of Kain 4:02 ░
░ 2. Deranged Nymphomania 3:16 ░
░ 3. Holiday in Hell 4:00 ░
░ 4. Reanimated Homunculus 4:29 ░
░ 5. Birth of a Nation 5:03 ░
░ 6. Lycopolis 3:39 ░
░ 7. Road Rage 2:54 ░
░ 8. Antiman 5:02 ░
░ 9. The End 3:40 ░
░ 10. Calle Brutal 1:25 ░
░ 37:30 ░
░ ▒ ▒
▓ █ ░ ▓ ░
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