01. The Fall of the Fifth Sun
02. The Cholera of the World
03. Addicted to Violence
04. Nuclear Waste
05. Endless Fright
06. Light of my Darkness
07. Fucking Life Goes On
08. Mountain of Water
09. Acid in my Arteries
10. Torturer’s Lullaby
11. Oscura Pasion
Comment:
3rd album by this spanish Thrash Metal band that plays a fresh and varied style influenced by bands like METALLICA, TESTAMENT, SEPULTURA, THE HAUNTED, KREATOR, AT THE GATES, SLAYER…
Desde 1996 lleva funcionando esta banda de Alcoy, Alicante, que nos presenta su tercera obra. El thrash metal ofrece ahora síntomas de resurgimiento en todo el planeta, pero no solo tenemos que considerar en ello a grupos de nuevo cuño. En la sombra ha habido gente como la que nos ocupa, que han curtido su música en base a su lucha y los años de experiencia. Todo ello avala el resultado de “The Darkest Reflections”, un disco de thrash de vieja escuela con muchas pinceladas de originalidad y con guiños a otros estilos afines a lo extremo.
El grupo va bien surtido en el plano instrumental, son músicos capaces de desarrollar sus temas por terrenos complejos. Así nos reciben con una intro como “The Fall Of The Fifth Sun”, muy atractiva para el que además de la garra de este estilo disfruta de la música bien confeccionada. Muy labrado aparece “The Cholera Of The World”, con un estribillo en el que asoma la melodía. El grupo domina el corte afilado del género, el lado más brutal con ciertos coqueteos con el death y ese tinte melódico, que en ocasiones aflora, de una influencia muy europea. Todo eso lo cubre una banda que dentro de la caña te ofrece muchos más detalles. Tal vez de lo más extremo sea “Endless Fright”, aunque temas como “Addicted To Violence” hablan solo con su título. Viendo la elaboración musical a la que el grupo se presta no es de extrañar que les haya salido la instrumental “Light Of My Darkness”, haciendo el disco más completo. Un detalle también es el tema en castellano “Oscura Pasión”, en el que vemos que el idioma no cambia el estilo de una banda muy hecha tras 15 años de andadura
Un gran disco si te gusta el thrash no cerrado a una sola y única dirección. Tanatossis es capaz de ofrecer un disco muy fiel al estilo, pero ofreciendo rasgos distintivos que le hacen crecer, siendo algo más que una banda que simplemente nos trae a la mente a los clásicos. Son una gozada de grupo para los amantes del metal contundente y agresivo, porque dentro de esos términos dominan varias vertientes, muy unidas entre sí, pero que dotan de variedad y originalidad a lo que aquí escuchamos. La personalidad la han ganado a base de años funcionando, así que todo (salvo un sonido algo mejorable) lo tiene “The Darkest Reflections” para ser considerado un disco de máximo interés.
Spanish thrash metal band Tanatossis has been creating music for almost fifteen years now, but up until recently they have been releasing their music independently. For their third full length The Darkest Reflections the group has inked a deal with Xtreem Music, and this is also the first time that Tanatossis has released an album entirely in English. They definitely have some decent riffs but there aren’t quite enough that stand out and the band’s transition to English hasn’t been the smoothest.
The instrumentals on The Darkest Reflections are a mix of the fast paced and aggressive thrash metal that has been around for a long time and the slightly more melodic branch of the genre that has become popular in recent years. What this means is that Tanatossis spends much of their time alternating between heavier riffs that are fairly straightforward and try to hit you with all out aggression and ones that take a slightly more experimental approach and focus on melody and atmosphere. The band is able to offer a decent amount of variety from song to song, but part of the problem is that there just aren’t enough hooks to keep listeners engaged. This is the type of album that you enjoy as you’re listening to it but don’t remember that much of once it has come to an end.
Vocalist Gabi has an extremely high pitched shriek that listeners will either love or hate. He has a pitch that is slightly different sounding from most thrash singers and this gives Tanatossis a unique feel. This is also helped out by the fact that Gabi occasionally contributes some clean singing, which gives the band a bit more variety. However, after comparing the vocal performances on The Darkest Reflections to the group’s previous two efforts the singing just doesn’t sound quite as fluid/natural in English as it does in Spanish. This is definitely something that the group can work on in the future and with a little more time it could be improved.
Tanatossis is another good but not great thrash band. They are competent musicians and do seem to be attempting to inject variety into their material but they do need some better hooks so that listeners will be able to distinguish individual songs. Additionally, their lyrics don’t seem to be quite as fluid in English and while I don’t necessarily want them to go back to Spanish only material this is something they can work on. If you’re a huge thrash fan you may still want to check The Darkest Reflections out, otherwise I would wait and see if these guys can take their music to the next level.
Spanish Thrashers are sometimes rare in the public eye when you’re not local to the countries scene; Tanatossis have a few previous releases under their belt. Striking artwork welcomes the listener initially, as you step inside their world in musical terms, does it really hold any regard at all? They take guitar melodies and mix it up with some standard thrash exercises, musically thundering into action, vocally, quite raspy, and a little annoying at times. Tunes such as ‘Addicted to Violence’ prove a good influence of modern day Kreator, Evile (without the delivery) or Destruction, the melody in the breakdowns match the head banging thrash assault, guitar fills are strong and prolific, whilst the arrangements sit comfortably in any thrash fans pallet. The production is rather powerful, but can in some places suffer from the lack of boost, or in your face “listen to this” action. Having said this, ‘Endless Fright’ gives good accounts of the talent they have, the vocals again are just that bit annoying coming from the throat rather than the stomach. But for all the criticisms of this band, in reality they are of a standard that some of the bigger names trade off and have done for years, with the right live shows and promotion, they could be a band to take note of, although the new wave of thrash boat has already sailed over the past few years.
‘The Darkest Reflections’ is a strong album, but I would not be spinning time and time again, the album will get lost in the “also-ran” category, there needs that little bit more individuality in the music to come to the forefront, ‘The Darkest Reflections’ sits back and goes for the ride too much, even though it is a good release, but Tanatossis are a band worth considering even if they are not going to take over the world in musical terms.
Thrash w wytwórni Rottena przejął pałeczkę pierwszeństwa. TANATOSSIS nawiązuje do końca lat 80-tych, stawiając na szybkie, równe gitarowe eskapady, wzmocnione agresywnym wokalem. Pierwsze takty płyty „The Darkest Reflections” nasunęły mi skojarzenia z SEVENTH ANGEL, ale TANATOSSIS jest zdecydowanie bardziej brutalny. O tak, zdecydowanie. Kolejne numery potwierdzają, że nie idzie tu tylko o szybkość, lecz również o odpowiednie zaakcentowanie i rozłożenie tempa. Weźmy taki „Endless Fright”, panowie łupią miarowo, ale kiedy przyśpieszają, to jakże wściekle. Sporo tu odwołań do DEW-SCENTED („Fucking Life Goes On”, „Mountain Of Water”), nieco SACRIFICE z lat 90-tych, dużo i ciekawie się tu dzieje. Chwilami na myśl przychodzi mi holenderski CRUSTACEAN, aczkolwiek Hiszpanie są jednak bardziej brutalni i więcej ładują do pieca, nawet w takich banalnych numerach jak „Light Of My Darkness”, który jest kawałkiem instrumentalnym i trwa 5 i pół minuty. A są tu jeszcze takie perły jak wspomniany „Mountain Of Water” (zajebisty thrashowy pocisk), „Acid In My Arteries” (równie doskonała dynamika), „Torturer’s Lullaby” (wyróżnienie za dozowanie tempa i klimacik). Na koniec panowie TANATOSSIS nieco spuścili z tonu i osiedli na laurach, może się, kurna, zmęczyli? W każdym razie hiszpańskojęzyczny utwór „Oscura Pasion” jest lekko męczący i niepotrzebnie rozciągnięty. Wywalić ten ostatni kawałek i będzie lala! Poza tym czasem maniera wokalisty lekko mnie wkurza, bo śpiewa jakby ziemniaków w gębę napchał. Reasumując, muzycy TANATOSSIS upchnęli na płycie „The Darkest Reflections” ok. 50 minut thrashu na naprawdę przyzwoitym poziomie!
Peruvian Thrash/Death Metallers MAZE OF TERROR have just inked a deal with Xtreem Music for the release of their second album which is currently being written for a recording sometime in 2019. As an...
Russian Brutal Death act OSSUARY ANEX have just inked a deal with Xtreem Music for the immediate release of their new EP "Holy Blasphemition" that will see the light next 26th of September, as well as...
GRISLY is the new band coming out from the restless mind of swedish Deathmaster Rogga Johansson. The band has just recorded their debut album "The Spectral Wars" which caught the attention from Xtreem...
British Death Metal band RAVENS CREED have completed their 4th album entitled "Get Killed or Try Dying" which is going to be released through Xtreem Music next 2nd of August..
Spanish pathological Death/Grinders NASTY SURGEONS, have launched a video-clip as 2nd advance single for their upcoming sophomore release "Infectious Stench" that will see the light on 5th of July...
Spanish Death/Grinders NASTY SURGEONS have revealted cover artwork (again by Juanjo Castellano), tracklist and 1st single from their sophomore release "Infectious Stench" that will be released next...
Swedish Death Metal veterans RIBSPREADER, have just revaled cover artwork, tracklist and 1st single of their 7th album "The Van Murders - Part 2" to be released next 6th of June through Xtreem...
Finnish Death Metal band CARNIFEX, not the horrible trendy US Deathcore outfit, is going to see all their demo recordings from '91 to '93 officially re-issued on CD through Xtreem Music. under the...
Brazilian one-man Black/Thrash band GOAT WORSHIP, is ready to unleash their 2nd full length album "Shore of the Dead" next month of April through Xtreem Music.
Legendary Deathmetallers from Florida KILLING ADDICTION are about to see their classic debut album "Omega Factor" re-issued next 9th of March through Xtreem Music. It was also in March 9th, but from...
