Artist: PROTECTOR
Album: MISANTHROPY RE-ISSUE (CD)

Year: 1987/ 2015
EAN/UPS: 4260255247698
Media type: CD

If you have kept a keen eye on what is going on in German thrash these days, you cannot have missed the comeback of Protector, legendary thrash/death outfit from Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. Formed in 1986, Protector lived through several line-up changes and phases of more or less activity, until they finally called it a day in 2003. That could have been the end of it, but if you scroll down a bit in the list of High Roller releases, you find Protector’s “Reanimated Homunculus” from 2013 – it was this album that marked the return of a band which today still is widely regarded as one of the most underrated outfits from the prolific German thrash/death scene of the Eighties. In 2011, Protector's old and new vocalist Martin Missy decided to reanimate Protector with the help of his all-Swedish crew, who had won their spurs playing in “Martin Missy and the Protectors” since 2006. The original plan had been to stay a cover band and not to use the name Protector anymore – but constant dripping wears away the stone, so Missy eventually gave in to the fans’ craving to see the real Protector playing live again. Now as Protector are back on the scene for good, it only makes sense to re-issue their back catalgoue, starting with this little thorny gem:

In 1987, Protector released their debut EP “Misanthropy”, after having scored a deal with the then still quite young label Atom H. Martin Missy remembers that this was a bit of luck for the young band: “It was our first release on vinyl, and we released it about one year after the band had been formed. We were really lucky to find a record company that quickly. Today, this is usually not that easy for an unknown band.”

Before “Misanthropy”, Protector had brought out their demo which already showed a lot of what this band was up to: uncompromising thrash metal, raw and fast, and with a strong feel of evil blackness. “Misanthropy” as the band's first official release laid the base for their reputation as “Germany’s most brutal band”, as some people called them. Protector? Really? A thrash metal band from Wolfsburg, some far out place in Lower Saxony? What about the German Big Four of Thrash? It’s true, Protector never rose to the same heights of fame as Kreator, Sodom and the likes, but back in the days, Protector made a name for themselves by playing not only fierce and sharp thrash metal, but always being extremely harsh, brutal and very very evil. “Misanthropy” is a perfect testimony for this: In its six-tracks-brevity, Protector’s debut-EP is a fierce, violent attack on the listener, giving you six razor sharp cuts and leaving you behind, crushed and bleeding.

“Misanthropy” was recorded in the summer of 1987 at the White Lines Studio in Braunschweig, where the band had already recorded their two-track demo the year before. It was during this time that Protector established their first more or less stable line up. Martin remembers how he first got into the band: “In the summer of 1987, the band consisted of Michael Hasse (drums), Hansi Müller (guitar), Ede Belichmeier (bass) and myself on vocals. Michael and Hansi had formed the band in 1986 together with Michael Schnabel (bass). The biggest change was on the vocal position. Michael had recorded the vocals on the demo, but in the beginning of 1987, the band started to look for a guy who would focus on the vocals only. I don't know exactly why they decided to do so, but my guess is that Michael wanted to concentrate on the drums.”

Mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel/ Temple of Disharmony.

TRACKLIST:

1-Misanthropy
2-Holy Inquisition
3-Agoraphobia
4-The Mercenary
5-Kain and Abel
6-Holocaust
7-Protector of Death
8-Apocalyptic Revolution

LINE-UP:

Martin Missy - Vocals
Hansi Müller - Guitars
Ede Belichmeier - Bass
Michael Hasse (R.I.P. 1994) - Drums