...SIŁA I PIĘKNO MUZYKI TKWIĄ W JEJ RÓŻNORODNOŚCI


..::OPIS::..

Żywioł, wściekłość i nieokiełznana agresja!


“Urm the Mad” was Protector’s sophomore album, recorded in the summer of 1989, again at the Phönix Studio in Bochum, where the four-piece from Wolfsburg had already recorded their killer full-length debut “Golem”. Still keeping the Golem-line up complete (though with some difficulties), Protector at that time consisted of Michael Hasse on drums, Hansi Müller on guitar, Ede Belichmeier on bass and Martin Missy on vocals, who had been in and out of the band and thus came a bit under stress once back in the game: “I had been out between march and early summer, so I wrote the lyrics to all the songs in a very short period of time.” That should not be the only change concerning the vocal position: “Urm the Mad” was to become the last album before the split in 2003 that features Martin Missy; he should be replaced by Olly Wiebel in December 1989. With this personal change still lying ahead of the band, the completion of “Urm the Mad” was decently celebrated: “I remember that a couple of friends from Wolfsburg came down to the studio in Bochum, and we had a big party after the recordings were all done.”

Protector did not change too much about their style – genre-defining early thrash/death – but one of the most notable things about “Urm the Mad” was the sound, as Martin remembers: “The album has a very special sound. It's hard for me to describe it, though, because I don’t know that much about the technical side of recording.” So what is it about the sound then? “Urm the Mad” is famous for its heavy, noisy, dirty sound, for its raw production that makes the music all the more evil and menacing, with guitars in the front and Martin’s unmistakeable vocals lying on the riffs like poisonous mould. “Urm the Mad” is thrash metal walking the sinister path of death – or, into death metal. Some say that this album is closer to Celtic Frost’s “To Mega Therion” than to standard 80’s thrash metal. Protector’s special blend of thrash and death metal has always set them apart from their compatriots and even inspired German metal tabloid Rock Hard to declare Protector to be “Germany’s hardest band” – and this in 1989, the year both Kreator’s “Extreme Aggression” and Sodom’s “Agent Orange” were released! To a big part this was due to the decision against playing even faster and even more technical than on the previous outputs “Misanthropy” and “Golem” – on “Urm the Mad” Protector still play mainly fast and energetic thrash, but the overall feel of the album is that of creeping, lurking evil – crawling along on frequently slowed down, heavy riffs and Martin Missy’s sick death-like growls which seem to come straight from the charnel house. “Urm the Mad” does not sport that “positive” aggression usually found in 80’s thrash; on the contrary, the album is grim, dark and desperate, but nonetheless brutal and extreme. Again, Protector’s contribution to the then-proliferating Teutonic thrash was mainly recognized within the underground scene, and the band’s expectations for “Urm the Mad” were not really met, as Martin recalls: “Protector had earlier that year mounted their first proper tour (with Wehrmacht) and played in front of thousands of enthusiastic fans in Katowice / Poland. The hopes where quite high that this record could be our big breakthrough; unfortunately it wasn't, but I think it definitely further established our name in the underground scene.” The “official” metal press played its own part in keeping Protector a bit below the radar: “We got pretty much the same response as we got for ‘Golem’: Good, positive feedback from our fans and ‘ok’-reviews from the bigger metal magazines.”

In the end, Martin Missy reveals the story behind the eponymous entity “Urm the Mad”: “I got the idea for the song ‘Urm the Mad’ while we were recording ‘Golem’ one year earlier. We were living in an apartment above the studio, and someone had stored a lot of magazines there. Among them I found a batch of Heavy Metal comics, some of them including a comic about Urm (“Urm le fou”, by Philippe Druillet). I liked the story so much that I decided to write some lyrics about it.”

Ulrike Schmitz



For whatever reason I don't tend to hear the name "Protector" mentioned all that often when people discuss early extreme metal (no, there's not a "proto-extreme" in this case; you're either in or you're out). However, I do think they are notably extreme enough to make the cut along with, say, other German luminaries such as Kreator, Destruction and Sodom (yes, those three once again). Perhaps it's worth noting that while those limelight-hogging trio largely gave up the extremity to their sound after their early records (with Sodom being the possible exception with their brief flirtation with death thrash on the Tapping the Vein album), Protector got a considerably harder-edge over time. Or, at least from what I've heard, they got heavier between their full-length debut, Golem, and this the ripping Urn the Mad.

What is present on this record is notably less typically thrashy than what came before; a frequent use of slower tempos, even murkier production and truly sick vocals from Martin Missy (who, despite having a name that makes him sound like a bit-part character in a sub-par King Diamond album, is a fucking excellent vocalist). So, I guess what I find interesting about Protector, then, is that instead of following a thrashier path on this record they lumbered towards some odd primordial death-like sound. It's still a thrash record, sure, but it feels notably darker, grimmer and generally lacks that "push people around in the mosh pit" vibe that is associated with late-80s thrash. If pressed, I'd certainly say that this is closer to Celtic Frost's To Mega Therion than whatever your own personal standard of "typical late-80s" thrash metal might be. So, that basically leaves us with a thrash record that will appeal to people who don't necessarily like Exodus or Metallica.

Missy's sepulchural vocals are perhaps the most deathy aspect to this record. I can't honestly say that I've heard a thrash vocalist sound so convincingly extreme as he does here. Just listen to the title-track - he's positively menancing! Urn... THE MAD! See, this is thrash metal for fans of Slowly We Rot. Okay, so maybe you're not impressed by convincing death/thrash in 1989? Considering that this was a year after Malleus Maleficarum and a handful of other death metal full-lengths (although, notably ones that are still very much thrash-flecked in tone), perhaps this is not such an impressive feat. Hell, I should probably note that the band aren't afraid to use blast-beats with the closer being a fifty-second grind-influenced piece. Nonetheless, Urn the Mad has a ripping vitality to it and certainly stands to be more than a mere historical footnote; it's very memorable but I wouldn't necessarily call it an obviously catchy record. The riffs themselves aren't particularly "hooky" and it doesn't have any catchy tracks like 'Space Cake' or 'Golem', and yet the combination of Missy's schizophrenic vocals - which do literally "leap out" at the listener at times - and Hansi Müller's rather austere riffing make for something that strangely atmospheric, if you can ever use such an adjective when describing thrash.

Basically, this is thrash metal that functions so well very as death metal that you'd be forgiven for mistaking it for its younger, even uglier brother. It has all the grey-skyed oppressive heaviness you could ask for and with Martin Missy's absolutely vile vocals it's an even more (un)attractive package. You can pick this up through the compilation Ominous Message of Brutality (a more fitting title you possibly couldn't find) and I strongly recommend doing so.

Acrobat



..::TRACK-LIST::..

1. Capitascism 5:42
2. Sliced, Hacked And Grinded 3:43
3. Nothing Has Changed 4:25
4. The Most Repugnant Antagonist Of Life 3:40
5. Quasimodo 3:44
6. Urm The Mad 3:41
7. Decadence 3:52
8. Atrocities 4:11
9. Molotow Cocktail 0:46

Bonus Tracks:
10. Kain And Abel (live) 4:07
11. Omnipresent Aggression (live) 3:45
12. The Mercenary (live) 3:18
13. Apocalyptic revelations (live) 3:26


Recorded August 1989 at Phoenix Studios, Bochum.

Tracks 10-13 are not credited on the back cover but only on compact disc.
Live bonus tracks recorded in Braunschweig, Germany on May 1st 1989.
Vocals on live tracks by Oliver Wiebel



..::OBSADA::..

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




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xSIGvLlBf0



SEED 15:00-22:00.
POLECAM!!!