THANATEROS

Insomnia

The German act named Thanateros is an intriguing and interesting one. With a strong and prevalent emphasis on atmosphere and gloom, these guys draw on a myriad of different musical influences and this 17-track effort (the special edition contains four bonus cuts) of theirs is damn-near impossible to pigeonhole or classify. How about dark hard rock with sinister folk-like traits to it or something along those lines?

Lovecraftian themes, mythological subject matter, pagan ideas, and slightly eerie-sounding soundscapes abound and in terms of melodies and overall mood, this is a rather melancholic affair. Quite a few galloping metal-infused riffs appear too, but there is something about ”Insomnia” that more often than not makes me think of dark metal and gothic metal even though the record does not fall into either of those categories either. Regardless, the outfit's commendable use of violin amplifies the album's moody and occasionally bleak vibe while the vocals complement the music nicely by relatively often being a bit raw and unpolished. Words elude me here, but the bottom line is that Thanateros' peculiar mixture of sounds and influences works for the most part. It fails to keep up the momentum all the way through, but the compositions are cleverly arranged in general and offer several surprising twists throughout.

”Insomnia” is neither the most musically cohesive nor compelling output that I have come across, but I definitely enjoy listening to and it is without doubt one of those discs that I will return to now and again. It contains numerous wicked parts and the fact that it is steeped in so much atmosphere while also showing a sense of purpose and vision is admirable. It might not be outstanding, but there is plenty of good stuff to be discovered here to warrant repeated listens and it does contain its fair share of memorable songs with some spinetingling moments to them.

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