Search - Thanatos :: Realm of Ecstasy

San Diego Rock and Roll

04/06/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you like Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, Rocket From The Crypt, and/or any of San Diego Punk Rock icon John Reis's works, Pitchfork's album "Eucalyptus" is incredible stuff. Pitchfork came out prior to it all and is worth buying if you can find it (the cd contains three tracks from an ep which weren't on the lp. It's a shame the bass player left and that Reis dissolved the band. But we got Jehu, Rocket, and the Snakes as compensation. Not bad at all! Anyway, buy it if can stand to listen to music as cool as this.
(Just recently found out Swami Records is scheduled to re-release this album Feb. 2003)"

Rock in your shoe.

05/06/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This music will make some uncomfortable since it occupies an uncatagorizable space. But like a rock in your shoe it will make you jump around. It offers a mix of pleasure and pain, rhythm and harmonics. Any album that rates a ten is too perfect. This one is human yet godly and still a beast. If I want rock I listen to this."

Solid, catchy Euro death metal -- 3.5 stars

Tom P. the Underground Navigator | Park Forest, IL USA | 02/09/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Thanatos are one of the leading death metal bands to originate from Holland, along with their fellow countrymen and pals Sinister. The band formed all the way back in the mid-'80s and had already released a more death-thrash debut in 1989's Emerging From The Netherworlds, which had a few good songs, but ultimately Realm Of Ecstasy is stronger. Recorded in October of 1991, it came during the peak of the early-'90s death metal boom.



Here the band boast a fairly typical sound for this period, always fast'n furious but without reaching blasting speed. Stephan Gebedy pretty much has the standard guttural growl, but that's part of the reason I like it -- it's totally brutal, as is the music, which shows some classy riffsmanship and clearly has more going on than many lesser underground death bands of the time.



The reason I actually rate it slightly less than four stars is that some of the tracks run together a bit, but definite standouts are opener "And Jesus Wept," "Human Combustion," and my personal favorite, "Terminal Breath."



Being on a small label (Shark), this disc was extremely hard to find back in the day (I had to obtain mine through mailorder), and it's no easier to come by now, even though it's since been reissued once or twice.



I've always loved the cover artwork, which is sadly not featured prominently on Amazon, and the purple color of the layout. That and the band's logo are unusual for brutal death metal, though being an old band, the logo probably predates the band's shift in sound.



All in all, a recommended release for all early-'90s death metal completists.



(As a sidenote, the back cover of the CD contains a typo, as the correct title to track number two is "Tied Up, SLICED Up," not "Slices Up.")"