Protector of Death

I'm such a sucker for obscure, blasting, sloppy, riffy death/thrash demos from the 80's: they represent and epitomize basically everything I crave about underground extreme metal in the first place. I tend to be of the opinion that extreme metal subgenres tended to sound better at the time of their inception, when bands weren't exactly aware of what they were creating and just went on with whatever they felt like doing - which usually consisted in taking the existing heavy metal tropes and bringing them to unimagined levels of speed, ferocity and evil, each band in its own special way, without yet having to know how to exactly categorize it. Tags like "speed metal", "death metal", "black metal", "hardcore", "thrash" and even "power metal" were thrown around almost interchangeably in reviews and interviews on underground zines, and the only certainty was that something special was being created out of what almost seemed like a hive mind made of countless different individuals around the world, all hell-bent on escaping the conventions and trappings of mainstream music by bringing heavy metal to unaccessible levels of violence and extremity.

With the benefit of hindsight, and the accuracy of countless ultra-niche genre labelings, we're now able to better determine the seeds these bands were planting for future generations, and the way said bands differ from modern, more finalized, crystalized and therefore standardized forms of extreme metal. By 1986, Slayer's "Hell Awaits" and Possessed's "Seven Churches" were already storming the markets, twisting early-80's speed/thrash into something way more wild, untamed and sinister - starting to gain some emulators within the more underground thrash circles around the world, especially Brazil and Germany. Aside from your usual suspects (Kreator's "Pleasure to Kill" and Sodom's "Obsessed by Cruelty"), another German band was just getting started in their mission to make thrash metal faster, more extreme and less mainstream-friendly: enter Protector, with their first demo titled "Protector of Death".

Being this the band's first recording ever, it's kinda surprising to only hear a couple of songs that would later be included on 1988's "Golem" (plus a mesmerizing horror soundtrack style intro that will haunt your mind forever and ever), with no track from 1987's "Misanthropy" to be found. As short as this thing is, however, it's some of the finest 80's death/thrash you're ever going to find out there. Courtesy of the delightfully lo-fi sound, the guitars pierce your ears like sawing blades, with such an insane amount of screeching treble that would even make Destruction's "Eternal Devastation" jealous and gives full justice to the sharpness of the riffs, while the drums blast mindlessly and ferociously in the background, blending in perfectly with the monstrous, possessed vocals (at the time, performed by the drummer himself) in a chaotic maelstrom of sloppy, boundless fury that still feels way more natural and untamed than most modern extreme metal, so preoccupied with technical precision and high definition at the expense of the genuine, primal energy which constitutes the roots of this genre.

The riffing on this demo is nothing short of godlike. Protector was basically going down the same route Sodom was pioneering around that time on "Obsessed by Cruelty": extreme blasting proto-death/black metal which still doesn't leave behind the sweet guitar work of older heavy/speed/thrash metal, which was still the predominant influence in Germany back then. Protector blends all these influences together in the harshest way imaginable: as a consequence, expect tons and tons of ripping, whirling fast-picked riffage possessing the same finesse and delicacy of early-80's European heavy metal, yet sped up to insane levels and with a much more aggressive, atonal, tension-laden melodic edge. The title-track is an insane blastfest from start to finish (with only a slightly melodic middle break that still sounds as sick and twisted as the rest), while "Apocalyptic Revolution" is a bit more cadenced albeit still as savage and propulsive in its delivery, being filled with more fast riffage whose melodic identity feels almost perverted and schizophrenic. These versions of the songs are definitely faster and more unhinged compared to the ones we'd find two years later on the "Golem" album, which possess a more rigid stop-and-go quality to them that, while still fitting in the context of that particular record, is less indicated for those looking for pure old school primitive blasting mania. Even some of the craziest riffs from "Apocalyptic Revolution" would end up being sacrificed on the following version, perhaps in order to enhance the feeling of doom that's however still perceivable in the early treatment of these two songs, which are built upon ominous motifs spelling danger for those daring to listen.

In my list of favorite demos, "Protector of Death" is only second to Schizo's "Total Schizophrenia". The sheer memorability and utter savagery of these two little tracks is enough to warrant them a place among the pantheon of obscure proto-extreme metal from the 80's. The riffing is addictive and fast as hell, to a degree that perhaps wouldn't even be repeated on "Misanthropy" and "Golem" - albeit the latter would come close in places, such as the "Delirium Tremens" track. This demo is a perfect snapshot of how underground metal sounded around the mid-80's: raw, unformed and still finding its footing - and, for this very reason, so pure, naive and beautiful.

Germany during the 80s was a true Eden for the thrash metal bands and Protector is maybe one of most unknown, but surely they are very good!! This demo features two songs only but what songs! Their style can be described as violent thrash metal; so total impact.

The sound is quite good for a 1986 demo and the group plays very compact and brutal. There is always a good mix of fastest parts to some good mid paced riffs. These ones are truly evil and Slayer inspired. The guitars sound is like the early Metallica one in the distortion but, but they play in a more brutal way. Sometimes they remind me Dark Angel for their intensity and impact. The vocal lines are a mix between Doty, Mille and Schmier.

Well, a very good demo in pure 80’s style violent thrash metal. It's very good and it can be downloaded free from the official band's site. So what are you waiting for?? Get it now! Thrash Assault!

I'm gonna give this a nice high rating, even though it's only about six minutes of music when all is said and done... there's a REALLY LONG intro, and then we get into some pretty staple thrash riffage.

The good thing is, there are a LOT of riffs. The bad, at times it just kinda sounds like "let's string together riffs in series", as opposed to being completely thought out. But hey, this is thrash metal, so lots of riffs are in general a good thing. There's a good variety of tempos, and just when you either least expect it, or most expect it (depending on how carefully you're listening), there comes in a great midpaced break.

Vocals are a bit Kreatorish, except a bit lower-pitched (see "Morbid Visions", maybe, for another good comparison), but there really isn't much death metal to be found here - again, even musically, Morbid Visions is a decent comparison for the sample set where all the riffs come from, but compositionally the arrangement is completely different, with the chaotic fast sections arriving more in an Endless Pain fashion, or sometimes just completely out of nowhere. Also, at times, the whole thing is more melodic than either album, with riffs being repeated but varied in pitch, or sometimes just repeated over and over again, a la the bay area sound. Imagine an Exodus demo and a Kreator demo colliding on the freeway and the pieces being put together quickly and haphazardly, and Max "1986" Cavalera singing over them. That sounds about right.

Production is decent for what it is - a demo. Not too generated, and all the instruments are audible. I can't really think of anything overtly wrong with the release (except maybe that the intro is far too long, given that it's only a two-song demo). Yeah, it's a whole fuckload better than Master of Puppets. For 1986, this is a bit ahead of being run-of-the-mill thrash - for '87, it would be average, but the year before, I'd say it can get filed under "competent".

Well, it's absolutely amazing how at the same time "Master Of Puppets" was being wanked all over by critics, media and metal fans, yet people were not even catching onto that LP's lack of great raw thrash quality. At that time, this little beauty was floating around. A modest little 2 tracked tape, raw and basic as fuck. The intro to "Protector Of Death" a somewhat eerie horror theme diverges into this manic and quite fantastic thrash riff, production raw, but clear as ever. The vocals are raw and simple, but by no means soft. The riff mid song is masterful and very impressive. The whole song just goes into mayhem and you catch the guitarist go into manic solo mode (but does it well, and doesn't bore us with note bashing).

Now, this tape really is as simplistic as thrash comes, and only boasts two tracks, but that makes fuck all difference. The next track is still just as fast and thrashy as fuck. All in all, brilliant music, great vocals, nice outro scream and there is very little more I can say about this great demo. Go and listen.