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THANATOS 'Undead. Unholy. Divine' Black Lotus (2004)
Sometimes, a nicely made album cover is all it takes to draw the attention of a fifteen year old metalhead towards a band. I do not underestimate the intelligence of people who are that age by this statement – I am just stating a fact. That exact thing happened to me when I first laid my eyes on the album cover of 'Emerging from the Netherworlds”, the debut album from the Dutch Death Metal outfit Thanatos.
Even though the band was originally formed in 1984, the year when Thrash Metal was holding the sceptre of extreme Metal, it took Thanatos six years to release the above-mentioned album. As a consequence, the sound of the band combined Thrash Metal elements, influenced by bands like Sodom, Kreator & Destruction, along with the innovative sound that was introduced by Possessed and Death (Chuck was the man – R.I.P). 'Emerging from the Netherworlds” and the band’s next studio album 'Realm of Ecstasy” (1992) were the result of that ‘chemical reaction’ and were both greeted with joy by Deathsters all over the world (myself included).
Unfortunately during the mid 90’s, Metal music was not the first choice for record labels, something which had a great impact on many bands – Thanatos included. Shark records was not in a position to offer a great service to the band, so the whole project was put 'on ice” for a while. Stefan Gebedi (guitars, vocals) managed to get a contract with Hammerheart Records (now Karmageddon Media) in 1999, and one year later (2000) 'Angelic Encounters” was recorded.
Four years after that exact release, Thanatos has once again chosen to move to a new record label. Following the footsteps of Infernal Majesty, the band joined the roster of the Greek label Black Lotus with which they just released their fourth studio album 'Undead.Unholy.Divine”.
I am really happy to see that all these 80’s Metal bands are still present in this great period of our beloved music. Thanatos is not the only band that didn’t get a chance to prove their worth back then, but it seems that they have now been given a second one. Compared to the 80’s the only difference that I’ve managed to detect is that Gebedi and Co sound more mature (you would expect that anyway) and aware of what they want to do as a band. 'Undead.Unholy.Divine” is a tribute to early Thrash Metal (Sodom, Sepultura, Kreator) through the eyes of an experienced European Death Metal outfit. You have probably seen this happening before with bands like Pestilence (Consuming Impulse), Atheist (Piece of Time) and Autopsy (Severed Survival). It is amazing how well you can combine fast Thrashy riffs with Death Metal based melodic tunes, and Thanatos have mastered that art.
There are many good songs on this album, but the first one that managed to draw my attention was the same-titled composition. There is a guitar part half way though the song that sounds a lot like the guitar theme of 'Nuclear Winter” (Sodom – Persecution Mania album). That’s all I needed to hear: the ruthless attack continued with 'Beyond Terror”, 'Servants of Hatred”, which was finished when I once again decided to play the opening track of the album, 'Lambs to the Slaughter”.
'Undead.Unholy.Divine' will definitely appeal to the 80’s Metal generation, but it also has everything that it takes to compete with any new Death Metal release. Thanatos’ music is traditional in its character, yet fresh and modern in its presentation. Get a hold of this album, it’s a must-have!
****
Review by John Stefanis
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