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Protector > Summon the Hordes > Reviews
Protector - Summon the Hordes

No flops, few highlights - 73%

Felix 1666, November 2nd, 2019
Written based on this version: 2019, CD, High Roller Records (Slipcase)

Destruction, Sodom, Kreator – the trinity of German thrash appears almost as a closed society. Some maniacs accept Tankard as the fourth force, but what about Holy Moses and, last but not least, what about Protector? Due to whatever reason, the guys from Wolfsburg (by the way, the city was founded by this lunatic wannabe-wargod from Austria back in 1938) were always underestimated. Or did they integrate too many death metal elements with the effect to be caught between a rock and a hard place? I have no clue, but I know that they are back with their seventh full-length, the third one which has been created by the now mainly Swedish line-up. Just like Venom, Protector is one of those bands whose line-up changed completely during the years, but it is amazing to see that all of their albums rely on a similar approach. Sometimes they emphasize the thrashing elements, sometimes the death metal legends can click their tongues, but these are just nuances that do not cause an incoherent overall picture. “Summon the Hordes” is a typical bastard of these two extreme forms of metal.

Apart from the totally stupid artwork, the album is free from downsides. The informative booklet holds liner notes to each track, not for the first time in the history of Protector. This shows the close connection of Martin Missy to his followers and it makes the likeable band even more likeable. The charmingly rumbling production also speaks for the band’s flavour. It does not lack directness and pressure, but it also connects the year 2019 with the mid-eighties in a nearly perfect way. Even the playtime of roughly 38 minutes is somehow old school.

Every record needs highlights – the only exception are Sabaton albums, they just need a comfortable bin where they can rot eternally. Protector reach their top form in “Three Legions”. Its highly dynamic and straightforward chorus makes the song to what it is: a thrash metal torpedo with slicing guitars and great lyrics. They deal with the "Battle of the Teutoburger Forest" in the year 9 A.D., but the dudes offer the entire range of topics, from party issues to serious themes. However, there are many good tracks like “Realm of Crime” or “Meaningless Eradication”, but really outstanding songs are hard to find and – nearly shameful - track no. 9 recycles the riff of “Face Fear”. No, this is not just another Protector full-length, this would be too negative. However, the sum of solid tracks does not result in a more than solid album and that’s nothing but a logical consequence.

I cannot suppress the feeling that Protector have a much bigger potential. The ponderous homage to the legendary Swiss co-inventors of death and black metal, to give but one example, remains under its possibilities. The faster pieces recreate the slightly hysterical moment that we know since the first days of the group and that’s okay, but not more. Sometimes it seems that the high speed of the drums prevents that the riffs can develop their full flavour. Anyway, as mentioned above, the album is free from throwaway tracks. This fact keeps the band’s head above water and it’s good to know that they are still alive, but maybe they should be a tad more self-critical when it comes to the next song-writing process. So this is an album that cannot challenge the back catalogue highlights of the formation, but it gets a minimal upgrade in view of its funny and catchy closer which continues the tradition of “Spacecake” or “Calle Brutal”. And regardless of the quality of this work – there can be no doubt that it has more soul than the last Destruction outputs and more power than the modern works of Mille’s circus.

Unity, Anthems & Pandemonium - 61%

Larry6990, July 20th, 2019
Written based on this version: 2019, CD, High Roller Records (Slipcase)

I honestly had no idea these guys even existed until a few months ago – and I am ashamed! Protector are nothing to write home about but their consistent delivery of gritty death/thrash between 1986-’93 is admirable indeed. They had the usual hiatus throughout the turbulent mid-to-late ’90s but have been back in full stead since 2012, making Summon The Hordes their 7th full-length album among a shit ton of EPs, compilations, splits and other various releases. My expectations were middling, and my opinion hasn’t changed, even after six full listens. I desperately wanted to praise the shit out of this LP, but it remains no more than adequate in my mind.

Those expecting a real harsh, vicious bite will be disappointed. This is clearly what Protector are going for but are let down by the fuzzy production quality (which muffles the kick drum way too much) and some repetitive songwriting. I won’t disparage the talents of the band; Martin Missy’s vocals are great and totally suited to the style, and Calle Karlsson’s performance behind the kit is nothing if not balls-to-the-wall. There are some shining moments from each member throughout the record – a blazing shred-tastic solo here, a relentless double-kick attack there – but as an entire package, something is absent.

The majority of riffs are cool indeed – especially when they slow down and settle into a groove. The Frost-influenced “The Celtic Hammer” is one of the finest riffs on the album due to its simplicity, and “Two Ton Behemoth” is also a banger. Individual riffs, choruses, vocal patterns and solos are not the problem. It’s when they come together to form a whole that things lose direction and focus. Summon The Hordes struggles to hold my attention when it repeats section after section with no hint of development. Opener “Stillwell Avenue” is one of the prime culprits, but “Three Legions” makes its 5-minute runtime feel like 10 due to this very issue.

Any fan of early Sodom or Kreator would definitely get some enjoyment out of this album. I certainly do. As background music, it’s just the right vibe of furious blackened thrash that gets me nodding in appreciation. Protector are just missing an almost unidentifiable sense of bite and edge to their sound and songwriting. Some better structuring and fat-trimming would improve Summon The Hordes tenfold. Also, some decent lyrics might boost the overall image of the record. I’m not one to give too much of a shit about poetic brilliance, but these lyrics are dire – especially the title-track:

‘Thrash metal tornado
Axe attack torpedo
Basslines right between the eyes
Thrash metal paradise’


Euch. And that's before we get to the hideous closer “Glove Of Love”… All things considered, the Germans have produced an album which is nothing if not enjoyable, and has definitely made me want to explore their back catalogue. Just one positive closing thought: track 3 “Realm Of Crime” is an absolute belter and by far the best song on the album.

Terror reigns eternal. - 85%

GrizzlyButts, June 8th, 2019
Written based on this version: 2019, CD, High Roller Records (Slipcase)

The thirty three year history of German classic death/thrash legends Protector might’ve been created by the hands of fifteen different men over the years but, even in a state of thriving reformation they’ve managed to keep well alight the spirit of 80’s death metal throughout that long and sometimes shaky span. The Protector you know and love from those late 80’s death-thrashing Teutonic ‘burnt classics’ would weave a complex web of line-up changes that’d leave the band without any original members by 1991. I’d explored that entire history, even including ‘The Heritage’ (1994), in Thrash ‘Til Death #05 but this is a band I’ve had my own obsession with since first landing a copy of ‘A Shedding of Skin’ right around the time they’d officially kicked the bucket in 2003. That year marked drummer Marco Pape‘s last gasp to keep the band going despite things having been shaky since he’d joined after a bit of an exodus in 1991. With major early days songwriter, and original drummer, Michael Hasse dead since 1994 it didn’t appear any ex-members held any meaningful claim over a band that’d dissolved for them nearly twenty years previous so, it’d appear Protector was dead and several record labels would pluck the corpse of its flesh with unlicensed compilations in the years beyond. Beyond 2003 the bands original (well, second as Hasse sang on the ‘Protector of Death’ demo circa ’86) vocalist Martin Missy was perhaps the only original member still interested and capable of carrying the torch. Because most classic thrash metal folks remember Protector best for their timely, fucked up brutal thrash on ‘Golem’ (1988) and the clunky almost death metal of ‘Urm the Mad’ (1989) it made great sense for Missy to revive, or at least perform some of those old songs casually under The Protectors name. The rest is history and we’re all lucky enough to live in a time where we’ve been handed a solid addition to Protector‘s discography every three years starting in 2013.

It’d have been easy for Missy to recreate those early pure and brutal thrash days before he’d left and bassist/vocalist Olly Wiebel (ex-Heritage) would take Protector in a death metal direction for the third and fourth albums but instead he had made sure to meticulously continue with a sort of amalgam of the Destruction and Sodom influenced ‘Golem’ along with the early Pestilence-esque rip of ‘A Shedding of Skin’. This lead to two incredibly fine death/thrash records with the first, ‘Reanimated Homunculus’ (2013), reprising those fiercely guarded thrash roots and the second, ‘Cursed and Coronated’ (2016), finding an almost ‘Release From Agony’-like set of riffs that’d land it among my absolute favorite release of that year. Almost perfectly aligned with the return and resurgence of classic NWOBHM greats Satan, so does Protector gift us with an evolution of their sound that sticks to their most distinct and crowd-pleasing elements.

What ‘Summon the Hordes’ brings us in 2019 is a complete change of environment and a bit more creative freedom for the musicians aiding Missy in his successful resurrection of this legendary name. The two previous records were both largely recorded and engineered by Tomas Skogsberg in Sunlight Studios whereas ‘Summon the Hordes’ finds Protector working with legendary producer Harris Johns (who also produced ‘A Shedding of Skin’ and hundreds of German metal classics) but this time splitting the efforts between Phonostudio Johannisthal in Berlin, Germany and Wolfden Studio in Stockholm, Sweden. The difference is remarkable in the sense that this third record maintains the quality level and relevance to its predecessors but Johns approaches the drum presence with tightened atmosphere, giving the album that 80’s death metal ‘compression’ that really growls under the pressure of the guitar and bass amping. Protector‘s sound is often so fixated on a high-speed pocket that their slower moments haven’t always been given as much consideration in the mix and I think Johns really understands how to make those slower parts really hit hard without making oatmeal of the guitar/drum interplay when things strike above 100 bpm. ‘Summon the Hordes’ also sees Missy loosening up his grip upon the songwriting, though his bandmates have created wholly appropriate and staunchly 80’s death/thrash songs.

Although I am fully aware that I am a stuck-up death metal weirdo, and this is a limited bout of petty critique but, I can’t help but have had a sort of snobbish reaction to the album cover at first glance. There was such a fine art touch that the previous artwork from Necrolord (Kristian Wåhlin) brought that this one looks a bit cheap from afar, perhaps only because of the inclusion of the crossed guitars. It isn’t a major gripe but I am not so wildly compelled to grab a vinyl copy as I was with the previous two albums. It could grow on me, just from afar it looks like a weird bootlegged 90’s W.A.S.P. compilation. The music within matters much more than the choice of packaging, and this is where I was equally impressed as I’d been when ‘Cursed and Coronated’ released a few years ago. The best way to sum up my thoughts on this seventh Protector album is that it is ‘more of the same, but different’ and I say that from the perspective of a fellow who lives and breathes death/thrash as if it were an unhealthy religion. It is a fantastic crossover between German thrash metal riffs and the bridge towards death metal prior to 1990.

How much does ‘Summon the Hordes’ sound like classic Protector (’86-’91)? At one point I’d had to double-check that “Meaningless Eradication” was a re-recording from ‘A Shedding of Skin’. Johns and crew have rendered so finely the sound of death metal circa 1989 that this’ll be more than a smack of nostalgia but a strong enough listen that you might go scrambling to spin those early Protector albums just to make sure they were ever this awesome to begin with. No doubt this is a ‘for fans of the band’ sort of affair but this is one of those bands that always had a sort of exemplar presence for death/thrash aficionados. The attack of the first three tracks should have old school thrash heads on board but I’d say wait and see how you feel about “The Celtic Hammer”, which you can figure who is paid tribute by yourself. “Two Ton Behemoth” was probably the first track on that first casual listen that really struck me as this purely bad-ass distillation of what Protector was in ’91 and has been since 2011. The back half of the album ended up being my favorite due to the title track and “Meaningless Eradication”, I think this is where classic thrash riff hounds will get off the most. The only track that had me scratching my head was “Three Legions” as it is structured as a sort of arena metal stomper that needed a bit more of a hook to justify its place at the pole position of the album.

Nobody’d blame you for smacking me in the back of the head for being a doofus fanboy when faced with analyzing this latest Protector record but even when approaching in with an ounce of objectivity, the essence of this late-80’s born Teutonic thrash legend is upheld within. Protector is no less powerful and exemplar as they were back in ’88, ’91, or ’16 and I feel lucky to have gotten to wrap my head around ‘Summon the Hordes’ in 2019. Very high recommendation. For preview I’d say the provided sample “Steel Caravan” gives a sense of the classic thrash lean that the first half of the record, and they’ve provided “Three Legions” as well but, if you want something a bit more brutal seek out “Meaningless Eradication” if possible, or at least keep in mind that they go even harder as the album progresses.

Attribution: https://grizzlybutts.com/2019/04/23/protector-summon-the-hordes-2019-review/

Safeguarding Retro ‘80s Death/Thrash - 90%

MetalMegalomania, May 13th, 2019

Summon the Hordes is cleaner than a lot of other death/thrash records. This is a subgenre known for its gritty atmosphere and often indecipherable portions when the drums and guitars are flying at a million miles an hour, so the cleaner (I say that in relative terms – this is still a death/thrash-sounding record) production here offers a different take on the subgenre. I normally wouldn’t be all too thrilled about the cleaner production (my mind goes back to the delightful juxtaposition between the massive bass tone and the buzzsaw guitar tone on the group’s debut), but the songwriting here really leans favourably towards the production choices.

The group’s choice to further continue embodying that retro sound we’ve been discussing works well with the cleaner tones. The guitars are certainly more than audible here, especially during the higher-pitched notes of various riffs to be found. The beautiful thing about Summon the Hordes is that everything is audible, even when all of the record’s intricacies are going at full force. From the fun, jam-oriented riffs on opening track “Stillwell Avenue,” to the varied but successfully contained sound of “Steel Caravan,” the record is produced masterfully. There aren’t as many bass breaks as I’d like, and that particular instrument isn’t too audible, but I feel like the album settles in a sound that doesn’t necessarily need these two aforementioned qualities.

The lyrical inclusions and various influences to be found are also worthy of note. This is very much so a record made by people who are confident at their craft, have honed in on a specific sound, and are still having fun with it. There’s not much effort made to diversify themselves from other acts – a claim can be made regarding a stagnant style here, as this record really isn’t anything sonically new, but such a proposition would be a stretch and ultimately a big middle finger to what Protector is standing for with Summon the Hordes.

“Stillwell Avenue” is influenced by the 1979 cult film classic The Warriors. “The Celtic Hammer” flows within the vein of the great Celtic Frost – it’s not necessarily a worship track per se, but the influence is unignorable. We have a great anthem song with the expected title track. Finally, “Glove of Love,” two-minute long thrasher, concludes the album in comical yet strong fashion. Now, these vastly different songs might seem out of place, or perhaps too eclectic to all be included within the same sonic work, but listening to the Summon the Hordes in full alleviates any related worries you may have. Back to the production and songwriting, both of these qualities are intensely strong on this record, and manage to tie all of the aforementioned tracks together. Furthermore, the songs I didn’t mention all fall within the vein of that classic Protector sound we have all come to love.

I really dislike the album cover. When you’ve come to understand the story behind this album and its lyrical themes it does make sense – the crossed Flying V guitars, skulls, and background lightning all scream “we are here, this is us, and we’re ready to thrash”, but regardless I just really don’t like the artwork. At the end of the day it’s skulls, lightning, and guitars on a metal album cover. I really feel like the album artwork is almost as important as the music it holds, as it really is the face to your music. It’s also a display piece for shirts and especially vinyl record sleeves; this album would have benefitted from something within the vein of Protector’s past artworks – especially the comeback albums. Deviating from the “golem coming out of the ground” theme they had going on is fine, but Summon the Hordes won’t be winning any album art awards any time soon.

The album also suffers from being stuck at mostly one speed for its entirety, but it’s a death/thrash record, so that’s of course to be expected. Regardless, the slower “The Celtic Hammer” and crawling introduction and following segments of “Three Legions” relieve the listener from potential monotony in terms of the album’s tempo. I feel like Summon the Hordes would have benefitted from another medium-paced track, but this gripe is minor.

Ultimately, this was a surprise record for me. I was looking for something to review and remembered that this release came out a few weeks ago. Summon the Hordes is delightfully entertaining and honestly, a top 10 album of the year contender for me, at least before this summer. I have a feeling that this record will be wiped out by whatever crazy subgenre fusion stuff comes out in the next couple of months during the upcomign peak music season, but regardless, Summon the Hordes might be one of Protector’s best albums, if not their best work.

https://metalmegalomania.com/