Video Premiere: Thanatos “The Silent War”

Thanatos

Hard to believe Thanatos, with the inimitable Stephan Gebédi up front, have been with us since 1984. Think about it: that year man had its first untethered space walk, Pope John Paul II farts and the Vatican is forced into emergency evacuation, and Richard Ramírez (the “Night Stalker”) finds his first unfortunate victim. That was 36 years ago. Yet, despite all the worldwide turmoil, death metal’s rise to prominence, and whatever is happening now, Gebédi and Thanatos are still with us, more powerful than ever. Now on their seventh full-length — new album Violent Death Rituals hits heads on March 20th — with a new lineup (drummer Martin Ooms and bassist Mous Mirer have since joined the fold) in tow, there’s clearly no stopping Thanatos as they tell stories of doom, gloom, death, and destruction.

Hell, even Dan Swanö — yes, the very same Swanö from Edge of Sanity, Moontower, Steel, Witherscape, etc. — has boarded the Thanatos war machine. “I know it sounds like a cliché,” says the famed Swede. “But the latest Thanatos album is their best one! (I have some insight since I have had the pleasure to mix three of them and remaster the rest!) One of my favorite tracks is the straight-to-the-fucking-point-sonic-slaughter of ‘The Silent War,’ where you clearly can hear where some of the stuff that made Hail of Bullets such a success came from; you know, ‘Keep it Simple, Stupid!’ Yet, there’s some finesse in the drumming department, without stealing away the attention from Stephan’s best vocal performance this far, some 36 since later. Amazing! Somewhere on the album there’s a classic speed metal riff (like a NWOBHM riff on acid) that makes me wanna teleport my ass back to 1982, start a speed metal band, grow a mustache, wear spandex pants and just headbang ’til my head falls off! All in all, if you don’t buy — or how people get their music these days — this album, you’re missing out on a piece of aggressive metal history! Mic drop. Boom!”

With gore, death, mayhem, and misery, Decibel and Thanatos hereby present world premiere video for “The Silent War”! Die hard, kids!

** Thanatos’ new album, Violent Death Rituals, is out April 3, 2020 on Listenable Records. Pre-order links are now live for CDs, LPs, and bundles. Click HERE for some fine Dutch death metal.