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.

Quick and Dirty Initial Impressions Roundup

I am going to run through a few of my recent pickups here. There have been a lot of big bands with new albums in the last few months.

DESTROYER 666: DEFIANCE

D666 is an amazing band. They keep putting out great recordings despite the fact that none of their such recordings sound much alike. On this one, the band takes its thrash influences and its black influences and mashes them together and adds some more melody. That's right, this album is significantly more melodic than their previous albums. This is quite possibly a finalist for Album of the Year. It's that good.

DYING FETUS: DESCEND INTO DEPRAVITY

Dying Fetus manages to further refine their sound. Dying Fetus was one of the early bands to dabble in slam death, but at this point they are far more technical and brutal, becoming more of a Suffocation-type band minus the dirge-like grooves. Dying Fetus seems to get better every album. I did not know what to expect when I picked this up, but I am glad I did.

THANATOS: JUSTIFIED GENOCIDE

Thanatos is one of the more underrated bands in the death/thrash scene, possibly because the band comes from Netherlands, which is not exactly a hotbed of metal activity. Thanatos is one of the more brutal, powerful bands to come out of the early death/thrash scene and the first Dutch extreme metal band. This album is incredible, powerful, and melodic. There are two bonus tracks, both of which made up the 7" vinyl EP.

VADER: NECROPOLIS

Vader is one of the most consistent extreme metal bands, as well as being the first major metal band from Poland. Not much to say here, if you enjoy Vader, you will enjoy this, if not, don't bother. Vader is one of my favorite bands, so I love the album.

Thanatos: The Burning of Sodom/...And Jesus Wept

This is an extremely short vinyl 7" EP, but Thanatos really makes the most of its less-than-10 minute running time. I had first heard of Thanatos when reading an article about the Hail of Bullets album featuring Martin Van Drunen of Pestilence and Asphyx fame and the twin guitar attack of Stephen Gebedil and Paul Baayens from this band as well as former bassist Theo Van Eekelen. As I was impressed with that release, I decided to check out the backing band Thanatos an I am very glad that I did. This was the first release I came across.

Thanatos kicks things off with a blazing cover of the Dark Angel classic "The Burning of Sodom" off of Darkness Descends. Thanatos's version is faster and more intense than the Dark Angel version if that can be believed. Rarely does a cover match the original, but this comes close. The vocals are the main difference between the two versions with Thanatos vocalist Stephan Gebedi providing more of a gruff roar compared to the thrashy vocals on the original. However, the vocals are a little buried underneath the frenetic musicians.

Obviously it's easy to come up with a great thrash metal song when you are mimicking an already established classic such as Dark Angel, but how does Thanatos do when crafting their own original material? Turns out pretty well. "...And Jesus Wept" is a re-recorded song off of their 1992 album Realm of Ecstacy. Thanatos is quite adept at burying the listener under mile-a-minute riffs and constant drum blasting in this song. The vocals have a little more in common with early death metal than thrash metal while the solos owe a bit to Slayer's extremely short blink-and-you-miss-them solos off of Reign in Blood. The song does occasionally slow down but continues on with the punishing riffs.

The record is pressed on red vinyl making for an attractive collector's item. I just wish there was a little more information about the band in the packaging. I found this to be a pretty good introduction to a band I was unfamiliar with, but people who already know of the band should probably stick to their full length albums. This is for the completist collectors out there more than anything. I will be looking out for some of Thanatos's other material though.