FEBRUARY 2005: The Greek label Black Lotus has dealt a wide range of interesting metal acts over the years, but one of their most exciting releases of late came courtesy of Dutch death / thrash madmen THANATOS in the form of 2004's "Undead, Unholy, Divine". Despite a busy touring schedule and the endless DIY-type activities involved in promoting a new album, guitarist/vocalist Stephan Gebédi was kind enough to give us the answers to some meat-and-potatoes questions about the album and the band.

Marchman: Stephan, what's the secret to quality thrash metal?

Stephan Gebédi : I don't know if there's a real secret to it; we've been playing this kind of shit since 1984 so we grew up with old school thrash and death metal bands. Along the way you pick up some new influences and add this to your style, but our basic influences are bands like SLAYER, POSSESSED, DEATH, CELTIC FROST, VENOM and MERCYFUL FATE. We don't need to delve into the past and explore the bands from that time. There are blood corpuscles of POSSESSED and FROST running through my veins, so it isn't difficult to let those influences out. We are not a retro band, because we try to transform our main influences into a sound that fits 2005, but let's face it; the best death and thrash metal was made in the late eighties and early nineties, so why would we change our direction?

Marchman : Going back to those early 80s days, what other bands have THANATOS members been in? Could you give me a little history?

SG: Our guitarist Paul played in a band called CREMATION before joining THANATOS. Our former drummer and bass player were members of SINISTER and HOUWITSER. Our drummer has been playing in LIAR OF GOLGATHA until they recently split up, and he used to be in FUNERAL WINDS. Our current drummer and bass player are also part of the live line up of MELECHESH. Personally I have never been involved in any other serious bands (apart from a band called CHURCH OF INDULGENCE in 1994-95 when THANATOS was on hold for like 7 years or so... But I'm seriously thinking about starting an all-star death metal outfit in early 2006, featuring some well known names from the Dutch scene.

Marchman: As long as you guys have been around, who do you think really dropped the ball, promotion-wise back in the early 1980s? Who kept you from being as well-known as POSSESSED or DARK ANGEL?

SG: Haha, who didn't? We simply had bad luck with our record company who turned to have a bad relationship with (especially the German) press, cause they never paid for their ads in the magazines. Besides that we had bad luck when already confirmed European tours with CANNIBAL CORPSE (32 dates in 38 days in 1992) and EXHORDER (3 weeks, also in 1992) were cancelled just mere weeks before the tour was supposed to kick off. In the very beginning we created quite a stir in the underground scene, but we didn't get any proper offers from really good labels.

Marchman: How long did it take to record the album? Any special details on the recording that may give us insight into that spectacular THANATOS sound ? It reminds me a little of SEPULTURA's "Beneath The Remains".

SG: Although SEPULTURA have never been a direct influence on our sound, I think they grew up with the same bands. We didn't go out to create an album that would sound like "Beneath The Remains" and personally I don't think our latest album sounds like 'Beneath The Remains', but it IS a classic death/thrash album of course, so I'm flattered by the comparison and I understand that there might be a bit of the same vibe on our latest output.

Marchman: Hans Pieters produced the album. Have you guys worked with him before? How did it compare to other production jobs for THANATOS in the past?

SG: We worked with him on our previous full length album, 'Angelic Encounters' and that turned into a small disaster. But since we knew what went wrong that time, we decided to give it another shot and this time things worked out fine. Personally I still like the sound of our 2nd album, "Realm Of Ecstasy" very much, except for the vocals which sound too muddy. The album sounds very dark and atmospheric, but I think "Undead..." has a strong, clear, direct sound.

Marchman: What is the Aardschok connection?

SG: I'm a writer for Aardschok magazine. I started out in the late eighties, took a lengthy break in the nineties, and now I've been writing for the magazine again since 2 or 3 years I guess.

Marchman: Funny, back in 86, it was hard to find out what was happening a lot of times in the world of thrash and hardcore. I remember reading about Cliff Burton's death in AARDSCHOK back then. How did you hear about it, and what was the reaction like back in the Netherlands?

SG: Of course I was shocked, I heard about it on the radio or something. I dunno exactly. I really liked the first three METALLICA albums, they have never been my all time favorite bands but the first three albums are excellent.

Marchman: Name some metal bands that get too much attention. If you could steal some attention for THANATOS, who do you think has 'extra to spare' ?

SG: Haha, METALLICA for a start, they haven't released anything decent in 13 years or so. All the sickening female fronted gothic metal bands in Holland. Please give me a break. If these bitches would stick to sucking dick instead of polluting our ears with their vocal 'skills', Holland would be a better place to live in. Also SIX FEET UNDER; that band is sooooooo booorrrrinnggg!

Marchman: Who did the cover artwork for the new disc? That is some pretty wicked stuff!!

SG: The original artwork was done by Jacek Wisniewski (Vader a.o.), but our bass player made some changes and he also took care of the inner booklet.

Marchman: What are your favorite tracks on the new album?

SG: 'Lambs to the slaughter', 'The Sweet Suffering' 'Beyond Terror', the title track and 'The Sign of Sadako'. The first two because of their sheer intensity. "Beyond Terror" because it builds really well from the suspense-laden intro to a fast aggressive track with great hooks. 'Undead. Unholy. Divine.' is pure SLAYER-like thrash the way I love it. I'd only wish SLAYER would write more songs like this. I bet it would sound even cooler if Tom Araya would be singing on it, haha. And finally 'The Sign of Sadako' cause we managed to keep a song which is basically a very slow one interesting.

Marchman: What do you think of some of the newer bands like SHADOWS FALL , ISIS , ALL THAT REMAINS, etc.? Anything missing from their sound, or anything interesting added to it in your opinion?

SG: A little bit of both; from what I've heard they're pretty good musicians and they really try to combine aggression and melody, but A. all the singers of these bands sound alike (even more than with death metal singers) B. they've listened just a little bit too much to IN FLAMES . Nevertheless some of these bands are quite interesting, I really enjoyed the latest KILLSWITCH ENGAGE record for instance.

Marchman: Do you ever sense an "anti-80s" backlash with the younger bands (kind of stemming from the above introduction)?

SG: Of course, you can't deny that when you listen to that type of bands, but it's also there in the black metal scene.

Marchman: Would it make sense for a death metal band to leave the normal lyrical formulas of classic death and write songs about breakfast cereals, waxing cars, or working at the sandwich shop, just for a change of pace? Ever think that the CARCASS / SLAYER lyrical themes are played out?

SG: Don't think so, as long as they 're not getting too cheesy and you try to mix them with topical subjects they will always be interesting.

Marchman: Final question. Who would you pick if you could have only one , DEATH or OBITUARY ?

SG: Definitely DEATH; Chuck started it all for me!

Marchman: Cool deal. Thanks very much for your time, Stephan. Good luck for the future with THANATOS!

SG: Thank you!

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/thanatos666