Thanatos – דת' מטאל לא שגרתי

Death metal isn't dead, and that fact is proven by the resurfacing of Holland's Thanatos, a band whose roots lay way back in the 80's, that released several high quality death metal albums in the early 90's, and that is now back with a vengeance. Among other things, the band is known to Israeli metal fans for the participation of their guitarist, Paul, in two live renditions of Israel's own Orphaned Land track Halo Dies. To get some info on the band, Paul was kind enough to keep us up-to-date on current events.

Hi Paul, first I'd like to know what's up with a new release for the band. How would you say your new release will sound in comparison with your older material?

Hey Alon, how are you doing? Thanatos should record the new album at this moment, but because Stephan’s neck hernia we’ve delayed it to February 2006. It gives us also some time extra to arrange the songs a bit and work things out. Expect a heavier version of our latest album ‘Undead. Unholy. Divine.’ with typical influences of the good old thrash/death times together with some epic doom and grinding blastsongs.

I understand that Stephan, your vocalist, has some health problems that caused you to cancel some shows, what's going on with him now?

He is still mentally sick, he will always be. ha! Ha! No, seriously he is doing well at the moment. Stephan first wanted to undergo an operation, but the complication in the worst case is paralysis from neck to feet. So that wasn’t an option. He needs a lot of rest, so guitarplaying for instance is reduced to the minimum.

How would you define your style of death metal, is it more American death metal inclined, European?

Thanatos exists for more than 20 years (since 1984) and is one of the pioneers of the thrash/death scene. Therefore has the band created an own style. It’s hard to define it, but it’s a combination thrash and death metal with the usage of dissonant tones with characteristic vocals.

I understand you released an EP through Konqueror records, tell us about that.

Next month we will release a single on vinyl. We recorded two songs in the Excess studio’s a couple of months ago and we found out that Konqueror Records are pleased to combine forces. It will contain the ripping covertrack ‘The burning of Sodom’ of Dark Angel and a song from Thanatos’ second album, entitled ‘And Jesus wept’.

Can you tell us about your personal history with the band, how did you join it?

I am/was a big Thanatosfan and especially liked the cult album ‘Emerging from the Netherworld’. When Stephan formed Thanatos in 1999, he asked the Sinister/Houwitser guys Aad and Theo for joining him. In that same year I met drummer Aad (Sinister invited me to be their vocalist), who asked me to do audition for Thanatos. Great to play in the band you adored before!

What were you doing as a musician before that?

Playing in a metalband in the Netherlands doesn’t pay enough for a living. In fact we all have a full- time job. Bassplayer Marco does graphical and lay-out stuff for a newspaper (and for Thanatos), Stephan works at a reïntegrationoffice. Drummer Yuri is at the moment unemployed (frankly for years, the lazy basterd!) and I’m a teacher on a primairy school. It’s sometimes a big contrast between work and being part of Thanatos. In the morning playing kids’ songs on my accoustic guitar and in the evening banging the head off on stage!

Your last full album was "Undead.Unholy.Divine", what is your opinion on the album now, more then a year after it was released?

We all are still satisfied about this album. The songs are diverse and played tight and well, the production is right-in-you-face and it has that characteristic Thanatos feeling, which wasn’t there on the previous album ‘Angelic Encounters’. All members were involved now with the arrangements of the songs which put a clear mark on our strongest album ever.

Where you happy with the new label, Black Lotus Records?

Of course I am very pleased that a label have interest in the band. We wanted to have a ‘smaller’ label where the band isn’t a number. We have had some critism about the slow communication from their side, but Black Lotus Records is an enthousiastic company with the metalheart on the right spot. The marketing, promotion and distribution is well-done.

I understand you did two guest-appearances with Israel's Orphaned Land on the track Halo Dies, how did you do the first one, and how the second?

Yes! Thanatos played in Greece together with Orphaned Land. Frankly, I haven’t heard from them before. Our vocalist Stephan was invited to do the song with them, but because he was very busy at that moment, so he asked me to do the job. In my previous band Cremation (https://welcome.to/cremation) I was responsible for the vocalparts and I was curious how it would sound with a complete different band. I thought I just had to sing a refrein or a small piece of the song, but it turned out to be a larger lyric than I expected.

The second time I performed together with Orphaned Land was in September this year on the European Progpower Fest in the Netherlands. It was great to see Uri, Eden and the rest of the guys again. This time without printed lyrics hidden on stage. Ha! Ha!

Tell us a bit about the experience of playing with them.

We met the Orphaned guys in January when we played in Thessaloniki in Greece. As deathmetal freaks it was strange to see longhaired and tattooed guys standing and singing at the piano of the hotel. Unfortunately we haven’t spoke much then; we simply had a short time for arrival, partying in a rockclub, performing and leaving again.

Why was the band disbanded in 92'. And what were the reasons leading to its reformation?

A bad relationship with the record company, several important tours (like supporting Carcass) were cancelled and some attitude problems within the were the main reasons why Thanatos split up in 1992. Recordlabel Hammerheart showed interest in re-releasing the older material including bonustracks and a new album as well. It was a small step for founder member Stephan to reform the band in 1999.

What kind of live shows are planned for the band?

At the moment, we haven’t planned any shows. Mainly because of the healthproblems of singer/guitarst Stephan. We’re now also quite busy with completing the songs for our next album, so we’ll performing after the recordings. That will be in March 2006! It’s a long wait for us, because we really like playing live!

Any last word to the Israeli metal people?

We really hope to play in Israel some time. Cheers and check out our site for updates, mp3’s, video parts, etc. Thanks for the interview. Uri and the Orphaned guys, when you read this: Shalom chaverim, L'hitra'ot!