Review by Felix on August 31, 2022.

The brand new Protector album is a killer, that’s for sure, and maybe it is a good occasion to look back on the first official release of the once completely German formation. Certainly, one cannot compare “Misanthropy” with “Excessive Outburst of Depravity”, but one can put it in a row with other thrashing EPs from the eighties. “Misanthropy” has more compositional substance than Warrant’s “First Strike”, it sounds much more professional than Sodom’s “In the Sign of Evil” and it does not reveal rhythmic problems that made the closer on Destruction’s “Sentence of Death” to something, well, special. Of course, the EP lacks the charm of the imperfect which was Sodom’s greatest advantage in their early days. Anyway, “Misanthropy” makes its statement loud and clear.

Protector came with an EP under their arm that showed an amazing level of technical precision and compositional maturity. In particular the vicious riffing of “Holy Inquisition” illustrates that Protector realized the importance of diabolic catchiness very quickly. The band did not wallow in rumbling, typical Teutonic sounds. The Bay Area delivered the sonic frame, but Protector added a pretty somber touch. Thus, we have a lot of tempo changes, dynamic and variable drumming and we enjoy the expressiveness of the mostly homicidal guitars. Okay, every now and then a part is going nowhere, for example the high-velocity instrumental section of “Agoraphobia” and “Holocaust” plays the typical mediocre closer. But the good sections dominate, for example the chorus part of “The Mercenary” with its intensive double bass support.

Protector’s debut was the first release of the then new Atom H Records label. It was produced by the band itself. Given this situation, one might think that the sound sucks… totally wrong, dudes! The six tracks – let’s forget the irrelevant intro – boast with a clear, sharp and evil mix. Maybe the musicians benefited from their “isolation”. Wolfsburg is no part of the Ruhrpott region, where the German thrash movement made its first moves. Was this the reason why this EP sounds pretty autonomous? Protector could not be confused with Kreator, Tankard or Sodom. Probably Andy Classen loved them, because their approach was not far away from the one of Holy Moses. But it goes without saying that Martin Missy did not follow the style of Sabina. His voice does not sound like the totally individual one of a woman with larynx cancer, but like the typical one of an ordinary male thrash vocalist: raw, somewhat dangeous and fortunately not overly interested in harmonies. It does not matter. Missy delivers no crucial feature, but his performance is convincing. So let’s sum up. Maybe you want to listen to the omega (“Excessive Outburst…”) and the alpha (“Misanthropy”) of Protector? Guess there are many options to spend your time less good.

Rating: 7.3 out of 10

Review by Michael on June 8, 2002.

Welcome to Pain Part II: "Nothing Remains the Same". This is a great metal/industrial album full of crunching guitars, smooth sampling and catchy vocal lines. The only issue with Pain Part II is that it sounds almost exactly the same as Pain Part I. Some say that when you are on to something good then stick with it, Peter must have listened very closely indeed...

If anything, "Nothing Remains the Same" is more pop-oriented than "Rebirth" with a good number of the songs leaning towards the lighter side with simple yet catchy hooks throughout. Orchestral instruments have also been used a lot more, adding a new more rounded sound to the existing format being used. Obviously when I say 'pop' I'm not relating Pain to Backstreet, but more along the lines of Bjork. We are definitely seeing a new softer more melodic side to Peter with Pain; obviously Hypocrisy is enough of an anger release for him. This album is a very pleasant change to unwind to after listening to death metal all day.

The production on this CD is absolutely flawless. Peter's talent in this field is equal to or even better than his musical ability. The mixes are not unlike those made famous by the one and only Devin Townsend. They are basically huge with so many things going on all the time, but mixed beautifully so everything is in its own frequency range hence creating space that should be there; a feat in itself. The man is certainly talented. Most of the sounds on "Nothing Remains the Same" are very similar to "Rebirth". The drums, guitars and bass are all basically the same. But since then, obvious refinements have been made to the overall sound. The keyboard samples sit a lot higher in the mix and the introduction of the classical instrumentation really opens the whole thing up.

Bottom Line: Even though "Nothing Remains the Same" is an ironic title, this is still a great CD that’s an easy listen. It is brilliantly arranged and perfectly produced, definitely one for the collection.

Categorical Rating Breakdown:

Originality: 6.5
Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 10
Overall: 8

Rating: 8.1 out of 10