1. Can you update us with what is going on these days, and 25 years ago when you first started the band , did you still think you would still be out today releasing new material and tour?
well we've been through some much shit and so many line up changes that nothing seems to surprise me anymore, but when I think back of all the obstacles we had to take these last 25 years it's pretty close to the eight wonder of the world that Thanatos is still alive. We just released our 5th album and although it's out on a tiny label and things still aren't really hot for us these days we're pretty proud of this new album. Even a lot of our old fans who always preferred the debut album or the 2nd one to anything else we released after that, are saying that this new album might be our best so far...
2. I know that the name Thanatos comes from Greek Mythology does anyone in the band today still have an interest in things like that?
I had Greek and Latin classes in high school and back then we were searching for a name that related to death but did not contain the english word 'death'. I still love those old Greek mythogical stories but we were never really influenced by that lyric wise, it was always more horror stuff, anti-religious and occult references and harsh reality.
3. I know that the band split up for some time, what projects were you doing during the hiatus and what made you decide to get back together?
Not that much actually; I sang in a band called Church of Indulgence, which was like a mixture of Slayer, Pantera and Paradise Lost, but that turned out way too lightweight for me, so after a couple of years, reforming Thanatos, albeit with different, more dedicated band members seemed like the only logical thing to do. So we didn't come back together, I simply reformed the band with new band members.
4. Are there any plans for a U.S tour?
Not at the moment to be honest; Paul (other guitarist) and me concentrating on the new Hail of Bullets album right now, but who knows what will happen next year? if we get a good offer to play on one or several metalfests in the US we would definitely come over
5. What are some of the best live shows that you have played so far?
The best shows for me were the ones where we shared the stage with some of our old favorite bands and bands that inspired us like Morbid Angel, Destruction, Kreator etc. Some other great shows were our first two shows in Portugal in the early nineties ans some legendary shows in Holland back in 'the good old days' when the Dutch audiences were still a force to be reckoned with. Supporting Sepultura on their first European headliner tour in Holland was also a blast
6. How would you describe the musical progress over the years?
Hmmz, hard to say; the progression from the first to the second album was pretty obvious; we became way more technical and added more death metal to our sound. Angelic Encounters was more of a musical regression because of the bad drumming and pretty basic song structures. On 'Undead.Unholy. Divine' we found the right balance between death and thrash again and on Justified Genocide we more or less 'perfected' our style and added some extra aggression and slightly more technical songstructures again without overdoing the technical aspect
7. What direction do you see the music heading into during the future?
I think we foundour own niche some time ago. Now it's a case of simply writing the best possible songs within the death/thrash territory which doesn't mean there's no room at all for experimentation, but basically I don't see us heading in any other direction
8. How would you describe the lyrical content of the music?
Like I said it was always a mixture of horror stuff, anti-religious and occult references and harsh reality, but on the new album we definitely concentrated more on the atrocities of real life. historical events like the horrors that took palce during WWII or the pain and misery caused by organised religion. certain lyrics are just pure explosiosn of hatred ...
9. What were your main influences when you first started and what are you listening to nowadays new or old?
Slayer, Venom, Death, Massacre, Celtic Frost, Possessed, Dark Angel were and are still some of my all time favorites... Lately I've been listening a lot to Shining, Behemoth, Bloodbath, Kiss, Priest, Sabbath/Heaven & Hell
10. What are some good films or literature that you would recommend?
My favorite book of all time is Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho. Apart from the classic horror flicks like The Beyond, Dawn of the Dead, Suspiria, Deep Red, The EviL Dead, Chainsaw...etc, i can really recommend the recent wave of brutal European horror movies like Martyrs, Eden Lake, Frontiers, Inside etc...Sick stuff that will make you feel uncomfortable for the next few days if you have any emotions left that is...
11. I know that when you first started you were one of the first extreme metal bands in Hollan, were do you stand in the modern scene and do you fell that you helped inspire some of the younger bands that have came from that country?
We're still very much underground over here, people recognize that were one of the pioneers, but to be honest a lot of Dutch metalfans, esp. the younger generation couldn't care less about bands like Thanatos, Asphyx and Pestilence that started it all for Holland, but fortunatley there are still those that do care....
12. Any final words?
Hope you're all able to pick up our new album, if not you can order it directly from our website: www.thanatos.info
13. Thanks for the interview?
thanx for your time
cheers
Stephan
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