“Protector” Brings Unique Music Style to SK

Blaring guitar riffs barrage your ears. Booming drums decimate the crowd around you. What you are hearing is the latest addition to the small S.K music scene, the unique new group that goes by the name “Protector”.
The band, which formed in late summer, consists of three members: vocalist and guitarist Jake Figliozzi, guitarist Dan Bryant and drummer Philip Bold. All three are South Kingstown students and all three are entrenched in the limited South Kingstown music scene.
The members came together from three separate situations. Figliozzi, who formerly played drums for the infamous metal band Hogg, now broken up, began playing drums in middle school, and has since picked up guitar and vocals.
Figliozzi has also played with Satansemen and has released two albums under the moniker of Mooncreature, his solo project. Mooncreature, he claims is going to be his basis for applying to college in the musical arts class.
Bold, a senior, has been involved in one main band throughout his high school career, the well-known dynamic duo Phil ‘n’ Crew which he plays in along with senior Tyler Gilroy.
However, in the summer of 2008, he began playing on the side with Figliozzi, a longtime friend and classmate. They halted after a few weeks due to a lack of time to practice and compose music.
Bryant, also a senior, is fairly new to playing in a full band. He originally began by composing beats and melodies on his computer and has since ventured onto full albums of raging metal music. He has released a solo album, entitled “Gnar on Your Face” under the name “D-bizzle”.
Since then, Bryant has teamed up with Figliozzi and Bold and they have been playing and composing music for the last three months.
All three members have been drawn to the unique genre of metal music, and the three found that with their talents and ideas combined, they could piece together a very inimitable sound of metal.
Figliozzi describes the music as “melodically driven doom with technical riffs here and there,” while Bryant simply claims, “we are the gnarliest band ever”.
The music combines slow, laid out melodies with fast, distorted metal guitar riffs. Bold backs up the dual guitars with a balanced drum spectrum, ranging from hard fast combos to slower beats.
The lyrics, which Figliozzi composes, have a variety of themes to them. The foremost theme is religion, or rather Protector’s disdain for it.
Figliozzi also writes lyrics about a cornucopia of other subjects, including progression of the human race, the prehistoric era, and what he calls “the growing epidemics” which he describes as topics like pollution, racism and genocide.
Although some lyrics are controversial, Figliozzi claims, “I don’t write about horror because its too generic. Love songs are a dime a dozen. I try to stay away from those topics and focus on themes and beliefs that I feel strongly about.”
Although the band has just joined forces a few months ago, they are already gearing up to play a glut of shows.
Protector was one of the headlining bands in it’s first live concert, at the Elks’ Club in Wakefield.
They plan to play at least two more shows in the coming weeks, as the trio will unveil themselves to what could be their largest audiences yet. A concert is scheduled for December 19th in Figliozzi’s basement along with Phil ‘n’ Crew and Pariah, fronted by S.K junior Andrew Shea.
They will also play a concert in January at the Gilroy family’s basement, also known as the infamous Ant Hole.
Despite the fact Protector will play these shows, Figliozzi doesn’t expect to play much larger venues.
“We’re all college-bound, so we’re not expecting to make it big,” says Figliozzi, who remains pessimistic about the state of the current S.K music and art scene but optimistic about the promise of Protector.
“The disadvantage is that nobody cares. But that won’t send us away. We’re making music that we love”.