Interview with PROTECTOR

The Band: Protector

Country: Sweden (originally Germany)

The Man: Martin Missy (vocals)

https://www.facebook.com/Protector.666not777/

Interview by Vpower

30 years since their creation of the band. All started with a demo in 1986, ”Protector of Death”. They have lost part of the crew throughout all those years, original drummer Michael Hasse passed away in 1994, for example. But they are still here, alive and kicking, delivering powerful Thrash Metal with a Sweden accent and they will unveil their new album “Cursed and Coronated” on February, 26th. No place for posers here, they still honor their legacy. Thanks to Martin for the interview. Enjoy it!

Hello Martin,  Protector is a great band with a long history. I think you can be considered as one of the great bands in the Thrash Metal

Thank you very much for those positive words. Personally I think that there are a lot of Thrash Metal fans out there who know who we are, but we are not as big as Kreator, Sodom, Destruction, Tankard, Exodus, Sepultura, to name a few. I would place us in ”the second row” of Thrash Metal bands.

In 2013 you released Reanimated Homunculus, after many years without a new album, how was the reaction to it?

The reaction to ”Reanimated Homunculus” was quite positive. There were a few negative reviews in the press, and some very good ones, but most of the reviews placed us ”above average”. Most of our fans (at least those I've been in contact with) said that they like the album.

In  February 2016 you are delivering your new album “Cursed and Coronated”. I think you have surpassed the last effort, what is the difference with the previous album?

To be honest I think there are not such big differences between the two albums. We try to write Thrashsongs in the same, oldschool way as we have done, since we re-started the band in 2011. We always want to write songs that sound as Protector did back in the 80s, and then we maybe add a touch of Death Metal to it.

How was the creation proccess of Cursed and Coronated?

It was the same as we use to have: Michael, Mathias and Carl-Gustav (who live 500 kilometers from where I live) write most of the riffs and put them together to songs. Then they e-mail me a rehearsalroom-recording so I can listen to it, and tell them what I think. Usually the songs are so good, that I don't have to say much about it. After that I start writing the lyrics to the songs. A couple of weeks before the recording, we recorded a pre-production tape, so we could listen to the songs in a good quality (and maybe do some final changes), before we went into the studio.

If anyone is looking for ballads or music to relax in this new album he is not gonna find it there. Cursed and Coronated is a fist of an album

Once again: Thank you for your positive comment! I also like the songs on Cursed and Coronated a lot. I think we have managed to write some cool Thrash/Death Metal songs, and I hope that our fans will like the recording as well.

I like every song but my favorite is To Serve and Protect, its old school sound combines perfectly the fast tempo with the slow powerful riffs. What is your favorite?

My personal favourite is ”The Dimholt”. I like the riffs and the power of the song.

What best memories do you have from the old times?

Oh, there are so many cool memories...Our first gig in Eupen / Belgium (with Assassin) for example. Or the recording of ”Misanthropy”, which was the first time ever I was in a studio. Also the moment we got the record contract was amazing and sort of unreal. And it was always great to meet Metalheads all over Germany (where we mainly played back then).

How do you see the Thrash/Death scene in your country?

I have to admit that I usually listen to bands / songs from the 80s, so I don't have such a good knowledge of (new) bands. Those I know (beside the ”classic german Thrash bands”), and find cool, are Desaster, Hellish Crossfire and Erazor. When it comes to the fans, I think it is almost like in the good old days. Many of them look exactly as most Thrashers did back in the 80s (basketball shoes, jeans, bulletbelts and of course a vest with lots of patches on it). It often feels like climbing out of a timemachine, that was set on the 1980s, when we meet the fans that attend our gigs today. I like that a lot.

Your Metal knows no frontiers, what plans do you have on touring?

We only do a couple of (single)gigs every year, so there are no plans of a tour. At the moment we have booked four concerts for 2016, and two are ”in progress”, so we will maybe book a maximum of 2-3 more gigs for this year.

Today’s Protector is more a Sweden band or a German band? Because I think most of you guys live in Sweden

We all live in Sweden, so we are a swedish band now. My three bandcollegues Mathias Johannson (bass), Michael Carlsson (Guitar) and Carl-Gustav Karlsson (Drums) live on the swedish westcoast, about 500 kilometers from Stockholm, where I live.

The band has reformed with new members in 2011, but it seems this has not affected your strong proposal?

I think so as well. My new bandmates are really oldschool, and when it comes to writing new songs for Protector, they totally catch the spirit of the old songs. I'm increadibly happy that I found these guys (a big thank you regarding that, once again, to Jonas Svensson, who put the band together).

What are your plans for the future?

Play live, meet a lot of oldschool Metalheads and start writing material for another album.

Thanks for the chat with such a great band as Protector, Martin

Thank you for doing the interview with me. And to all the readers: Stay Metal! I hope that we'll see each other at one of our shows one day.