PROTECTOR
Echoes From The Past...
(I Hate Records)
68:22min

Echoes from the past – the name says it all. It’s music of the past for those still living in the past exclusively. Music with no future? In a way yes, I’m afraid, for we are a dying breed. No wonder this CD is pressed in 1000 copies only, maybe that’s the exact number of die-hard Thrashers still trampling the surface of this planet? As for the new generations of Metalheads, they hardly care about such outdated kind of Metal at all. It’s dated indeed, however cruel it may sound, as old-fashioned as its fans are – as we are. Enough bemoaning our fate though, we still have some great music to listen to. Like this excellent re-release from Swedish label I Hate Records. In cooperation with PROTECTOR’s “golden age” vocalist Martin Missy they have done a perfect job with both, the choice of music and its packaging. PROTECTOR’s 2 track demo (1986, the only stuff featuring original bassist Michael Schnabel and vocals of the drummer Michael Hasse), the first mini-LP “Misanthropy” (1987) and the first LP “Golem” (1988) are gathered here on this CD and graced with nice looking 24 page booklet with all the lyrics (well, almost) and original covers, the band’s story written by Martin and some cool old pictures. All in all, it’s a must have collector’s item dedicated to Michael Hasse, who left this world in 1994. Rest in peace, brother, your spirit lives on in these records. I highly appreciate and respect all these old German Thrashers who used to make no compromises, whose Thrash used to be so pure and fresh, full of enthusiasm and youthful ardour. Naive but highly professional at the same time. A kind of total Thrash only Germans could deliver from mid to late 80s, and PROTECTOR is one of the brightest representatives of that music, that community and that era. They are fast as if they’re running for their lives, and they are furious as if they’re fighting for their lives. At times they are so fast that it seems like drummer Michael is trying to race with guitarist Hansi Müller and bassist Ede Belichmeier. Fortunately, their professionalism never let those races to have a winner: even in the most exciting moments they never let chaos rule their music, everything is under strict control no matter how insane the tempo and the sound are. Perhaps some additional catchiness and an extra portion of melodic hooks could help PROTECTOR to gain a couple of new fans and widen their audience, but when it comes to die-hard Thrashers, we get here everything we could dream of: speed, heaviness, power, sheer aggression and wild untamed brutality oozing from every song. Besides, the lyrics aren’t devoid of common sense, surprisingly, though it isn’t an easy task to decipher them as Martin’s vocals are always balancing on the border of Death Metal territories. Musicwise PROTECTOR once in a while also seem to be unaware of which side they belong to, but who cares about such insignificant matters like labeling music as long as it’s so great? Be Martin’s guest at his PROTECTOR site www.listen.to/protector and hurry up to get your piece of German Thrash legacy from I Hate Records, Box 13023, S-600 13 Norrkoping, Sweden. I_hate_records@hotmail.com, ihaterecords.cjb.net

Timothy Dovgy

Timothy Dovgy

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