“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”.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. “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.