Thanatos: Realm of Ecstacy (1992)

I now have three releases from Thanatos: this album, their 2008 album and a seven inch EP.  All three releases have "And Jesus Wept" on them.  I am beginning to wonder if that is a requirement for Thanatos.  I really have no idea why it is that every single release I have has that song on it.  It is a kickass song though.

Thanatos is a Dutch thrash/death metal band.  That is to say that the band is much more of a thrash metal band whose riffs are occasionally dripping with so much heaviness and bottom end that it borders on death metal frequently.  Add vocalist Stephan Gebédi's deep, grunting vocals and the band does sound much more like the groups that were beginning to cross over from thrash to death in the mid 1980's, such as early Death, Morbid Angel and Possessed.

This is the band's second album and it is really a shame that this band has flown under the radar for so long.  This album is full of great songs and excellent riffs.  It is a truly heavy album with several memorable moments.  The band manages to keep things interesting by balancing the blazing fast riff-fests like "Tied Up, Sliced Up", with slower dirge-like tracks like "Perpetual Misery".  But Thanatos never lets up on the intensity.

Thanatos is a terrific band who has been unfairly relegated to obscurity.  Every release I have heard from them has been amazing.  They were every bit as good as many of the leading bands in the early death metal scene.  It is likely due to the band's origin, as Netherlands have never really been a major metal hotbed.  It is a shame.  Thanatos is terrific.