THANATOS - Four Decades of Death compilation review

 

THANATOS - Four Decades of Death compilation

Agonia Records

Let me tell ya something. While listening to this one I've got the most evil sadistic smile on my face. Now I say that because I'm a fan and here's over fifty minutes of great stuff. So for those of you not familiar then I'll explain. When you think of Dutch Death Metal then sure bands like ASPHYX, PESTILENCE and you better know GOREFEST come to mind. But hey THANATOS is not only in the top four but they started the whole thing. 

THANATOS originally started out way back in 1984. I didn't get into them until 2000 with their third full length Angelic Encounters. I've been a fan ever since. Now what I always liked about them is that they are a killer sounding Death Thrash act. Of course there are people who just call em Death Metal and that's fine by me. Actually it's not, they're fuckin great Death Thrash but fuck it.

So what we have here is a bunch of demo songs as well as re-recorded cuts from the past. As a fan yeah I like this a lot. I mean their last album, Violent Death Rituals from 2020, was killer as fuck. But I read a while ago that the band was calling it quits. In fact with this release you also get a DVD of the last (supposed) THANATOS show from 2022. 

I say "supposed" because given the right amount of offered money a band will come back to play a few shows. Either way if you're an old school THANATOS fan then you need this period end of story. If you're a new school extreme metal fan looking for the old and true well sure get this one. But be prepared to max out your credit card because the band's early albums are not eight or twelve bucks anymore so best of luck.

https://www.agoniarecords.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://agoniarecords.bandcamp.com/album/four-decades-of-death

HAIL OF BULLETS - Self Titled EP reissue review

 

HAIL OF BULLETS - Self Titled EP reissue

Agonia Records

I guess you'll have to file this one under "For Fans Only" of which I am. For those of you who don't know then I'll explain. HAIL OF BULLETS was basically a side project of ASPHYX which started out in 2006. While ASPHYX was death metal / death doom with various lyrical subject matter. HAIL OF BULLETS was similar in sound but lyrically all about historical World War Two subject matter. 

Now being a huge ASPHYX fan years ago I was instantly drawn to liking HAIL OF BULLETS. Their line-up consisted of Martin van Drunen (ASPHYX) on vocals, Paul Baayens (ASPHYX and THANATOS) on guitar, Stephan Gebedi (THANATOS) on guitar, Theo van Eekelen (from HOUWISTER) on bass and finally Ed Warby (formerly of GOREFEST) on drums. Yeah they're a Dutch Extreme Metal supergroup to say the least. 

Their first two albums; Of Frost and War from 2008 and On Divine Winds from 2010, are fuckin amazing. Also toss in their 2009 EP Warsaw Rising for good measure. Now I will say their final album, 2013's III: The Rommel Chronicles, is decent but I hardly listen to it anymore. Now as far as I know the band is in limbo or are no more. 

Be that as it may this EP here is their 2007 four song demo which was never officially released. Actually it was a self-release which the band burned CD-R copies of and gave away to people. Sorry I never got a copy back then. Anyways for fans and completists Agonia Records has given it some respect with cool artwork and you can get it on vinyl.

Now some naysayers out there will say "well all four of these songs are on their first album Of Frost and War so what's the point?" OK that's correct but hey if you're a fan then maybe you want this on vinyl or maybe you just wanna blast these four songs until your head explodes. Which ever comes first I don't care. To me it's just cool to hear these songs again on a different format.

 

https://www.agoniarecords.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://agoniarecords.bandcamp.com/album/hail-of-bullets

PANDEMIC - Phantoms review

 

PANDEMIC - Phantoms

Dying Victims Productions

OK so long time readers of this blog (and what are the rest of you waiting on?) know that I'm the biggest proponent of Polish extreme metal albeit I'm not Polish. Truth is it's just great music created by amazing people from a damm good nation. Now aside from the usual Death Metal, Black Metal, Grindcore as well as avenues into Doom and Speed Metal hell yeah Poland rules. But when it comes to Thrash I'm thinking yeah but no one comes to mind. 

Be that as it may here we have the second full length by PANDEMIC a four piece Thrash act from Krakow, Poland. This band has some storied baggage since starting out in 2015. But I'm gonna forgo that part and concentrate on their sound. So in all honesty I'm sure some modern day jaded Thrash aficionado could pick this album apart with their negative bullshit. That's not me, thankfully, because if the music sounds cool and gets you excited then it's good Thrash. 

What makes this eight song album by PANDEMIC so damm good in my not so humble opinion is the musicianship. They're a fuckin great band. You've got Gniewko Jelski on bass and vocals. As far as the latter goes he's got a clean yet aggressive vocal style which I like. He kinda reminds me of Kurt Brecht from DRI. But hell his bass lines are thick and powerful as fuck on these songs. Next there's guitarist Marcin Konieczny who's a damm good savage riff master who's totally schooled in 80's era Thrash without being a copycat. 

Next up you've got the shredder in guitarist Wiktor Lobarzewski. This guy is damm good whether he's ripping your face off or laying down some melodic lead work. Finally there's drummer Filip Worek who has to follow up with all of this fierce music and keeps it all organic sounding as well as exciting. 

PANDEMIC's Phantoms is one of the best straight up Thrash albums I've heard this year. There are times when I listen to a song of theirs and think yeah these guys like US Speed Metal as well as Thrash. Call it what you will but hey I just like it a lot. Eight perfect cuts for you to slam pit to. Yeah I'd love to see this band perform at a show and watch people go fuckin nuts. 

https://dying-victims.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/pandemic-phantoms-lp