Leviathan's Desire

The first wave of thrash metal came to its end at the beginning of the nineties and therefore it was good to experience that some upstanding combos still held the banner high. Protector belonged to these bands. "Leviathan's Desire" showed no signs of weakness. The band still provided harsh, powerful and aggressive music. Nevertheless, you have to be the greatest thrash fanatic under God's sun if you want to give this vinyl 100% (or more).

Of course, I am speaking of a pretty good output, but there is, for example, the average production which cannot be ignored. "Leviathan's Desire" does not convince with a full sound. Neither the drums nor the guitars develop their real strengths. Instead of confronting the listener with a wall of sound, the production lacks tightness. This is a pity, because the opener "Humanized Leviathan" has some aces up its sleeve. A thrilling introduction, high speed parts, hoarse vocals, a whipping chorus and some sinister leads form the track. In other words: Protector just the way we want them. Indeed, this song can be deemed as a typical track of the then German gang. The mix of more or less apocalyptic mid-tempo parts and fiery speed eruptions accompanied them since their very early days,

Given this situation, it comes as no surprise that the band recycles one of their first tracks, namely "Kain and Abel". No bad song, but also actually not interesting enough to dream longingly of another version. Moreover, in view of the short playtime of the remaining material, this new version seems to have the function to lengthen the EP. But quality will always beat quantity and so it would have been better to release just the three new examples of sonic malignancy. "Kain and Abel" stands in the shadow of these newly spawned songs. "Subordinate" combines sharp riffs with an oppressive aura that matches the hopeless lyrics. The hymnal chorus contrasts with high velocity outbursts, before "Mortal Passion" delivers this mix of rapid insanity and mid-paced rhythms again. (By the way, all these rather slow sections appear as the soundtrack for a battle-weary army that marches to its final battle.) However, the hectic parts prevail.

All in all, Protector did not give their supporters any reason to cry. "Leviathan's Desire" sounds better thought-out than "Urm the Mad" and from today's perspective, it heralded the fantastic "A Shedding of Skin" in a very appropriate manner. No milestone, but a short appetizer without any rotten ingredients.

I happened to come upon this little treasure the other day while I was going through a strong Protector phase. Some really nice German thrash and I might go as far to even say this my favorite release by them.

This albums starts off with a nice intro to set them move them blazes into Humanized Leviathan. Such a catchy song all the way around. Catchy riffs, catchy lyrics, catchy chorus..eh, forgetable drumming, but the rest make up for it.

Next up is Subordinate. Hmm..a catchy song in parts. Catchy intro then slides into an iffy portion of the song, but then the chorus hits and makes up for it. The catchy part comes of towards the end of the song. You'll know it when you hear it.

Then comes Mortal Passion. Mmmmm what a tasty track! Agressive vocals, like every song, catchy unforgetable riff, and a good drum line to match the superb riffing.

Next is a different version of Kain and Abel. It tells the story most know of Kain slaying Abel, but with a more blasphemous intent. This version would surely make the Christians cringe. The music is good as a whole, but the real treat of this track is the story it tells.

The last 3 tracks are from a previous EP named "Misanthropy". As far as I know they are the same tracks from it with nothing added. Misanthropy is a pretty evil track. One you could listen to over and over again. Same with Holy Inquisition. Finally comes the catchiest track on the album..Agoraphobia. Now THIS is death/thrash at it's finest. I've found myself listening to this track for hours at a time. One of my favorite songs of all time.

Best song: Agoraphobia

Worst song: There are none that are bad.