{"id":13489,"date":"2013-09-13T00:00:17","date_gmt":"2013-09-13T00:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=13489"},"modified":"2013-10-06T13:36:16","modified_gmt":"2013-10-06T13:36:16","slug":"album-review-protector-reanimated-homunculus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-protector-reanimated-homunculus\/","title":{"rendered":"PROTECTOR – Reanimated Homunculus (2013) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

PROTECTOR
Reanimated Homunculus<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nHigh Roller (2013)<\/span>
Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Protector once had the potential to be up there with the gods of European thrash \/ speed metal. This bunch of fiery Germans hit the metal scene in 1987 with their EP Misanthropy<\/em> and received critical acclaim for thrash fests such as 1988\u2019s full-length debut Golem<\/em> and the sophomore effort Urm The Mad<\/em> in 1989, but despite causing a buzz on a cult scale they never reached the heights of Kreator, Destruction<\/a>, Sodom et al.<\/p>\n

As expected, what with the early 90s alternative metal and grunge invasion, Protector struggled but somehow they refused to die. However, despite numerous appearances on compilations and releasing a string of demos, the band hasn\u2019t recorded new studio album since 1993\u2019s The Heritage…<\/em> until now.<\/p>\n

Reanimated Homunculus<\/em> is Protector\u2019s fifth outing, and features the vocal sneers of original frontman Martin Missy, the blitzkrieg guitar attack of Michael Carlsson, the insidious bass of Mathias Johansson, and the vicious drum assault of Carl-Gustav Karlsson.<\/p>\n

The big question on everyone\u2019s lips however is, could Missy bring back to life this thrash giant with the aid of three new members. Well, the band had always suffered line-up changes from the early days, but even I didn\u2019t expect such a furious record.<\/p>\n

It is true to say that 80s thrash has never died out, and it has certainly come full circle with bands such as Kreator, Destruction, Sodom and numerous American bands keeping the flame burning, and thankfully it is these bands \u2013 and not the screaming horde of young upstarts \u2013 that have enabled thrash to live long in the blood of us metalheads.<\/p>\n

Reanimated Homunculus<\/em>, unlike the last batch of Kreator releases, has literally carried on from the 80s, boasting a dry sound that seethes throughout, mainly due to those rasping Missy vocals, and also a guitar sound that is nigh on perfect for a revisit to the halcyon days of thrash, and I simply can\u2019t get enough of this evil sounding ten-tracker.<\/p>\n

For a start, there\u2019s the tight drumming of Karlsson \u2013 which I\u2019m sure original drummer Michael Hasse (who died in 1992) would be really proud of \u2013 and then there\u2019s that precise bass dribble; the result being a journey into the depths of pure thrash heaven. I was impressed by the latest Sodom (Epitome Of Torture<\/em><\/a>) and Destruction (Spiritual Genocide<\/em><\/a>) records, but Reanimated Homunculus<\/em> is a true example of recapturing that 80s flavour.<\/p>\n

Album opener \u2018Sons Of Kain\u2019 is a full-throttle eyeball popper that destroys anything Kreator has done since 1989\u2019s Extreme Aggression<\/em> opus. Meanwhile, \u2018Deranged Nymphomania\u2019 swaggers in with a killer riff and punchy drum before once again picking up the pace.<\/p>\n

Hell, this is no frills thrash metal from the steeliest of hearts. Whether it\u2019s the fierce drum roll lunacy of \u2018Holiday In Hell\u2019 or the nihilistic attitude of \u2018Road Rage\u2019, one can\u2019t help but froth all over this rabid record. But it\u2019s the mid-tempo chug track that symbolises Protector, touching upon deathly shades with those lethal vocals.<\/p>\n

Protector has never let us down throughout their career, despite the lack of ignorance from promoters and the press, but once again they\u2019ve quite literally unleashed a formidable opus. I just hope that this time round their grey haze of parched thrash gets the deserved attention.<\/p>\n

If anyone ever asks you what 80s thrash was and is still all about, forget the San Francisco Bay Area, and just point them in the direction of Reanimated Homunculus<\/em>. Without doubt this is the<\/em> best thrash record of 2013, and the perfect peep-hole back to a time when European thrash, despite not achieving the success of the American bands, was still the ultimate force in fast-paced metal.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PROTECTORReanimated Homunculus High Roller (2013)Rating: 9\/10 Protector once had the potential to be up there with the gods of European thrash \/ speed metal. This bunch of fiery Germans hit the metal scene in 1987 with their EP Misanthropy and received critical acclaim for thrash fests such as 1988\u2019s full-length debut Golem and the sophomore […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,672],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-protector"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13489"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14563,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13489\/revisions\/14563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}