Thanatomania ‎"Resignation" CD

My daily dose of German black metal comes in the form of Thanatomania. These three lads are hailing from Berlin and beside an EP, a demo and a split they have released one full length so far. This one has been titled “Resignation” and offers noting particularly new, but 33 minutes of well written and performed black metal. It has been released on Schattenkult Produktionen, who are mainly known for a more straight and raw interpretation of black metal. Thanatomania are not really a post or atmospheric black metal outfit, but they are not afraid of thinking outside the box and implement elements from various streams of the genre.
This album has a little bit of everything, from classic black metal riffs to slightly shoegaze/post-rock like guitar work. The blast beats that manage their way into the mix create a perfect balance between what’s extreme and what is melodic and atmospheric. Every single track from this record has a melody and harmonies that you will have in your head all day long. The combination of tight riffs with tight drumming and beautiful melodies made by the guitar is something that comes out in a special way here.
“Resignation” includes elements of unearthly grandeur and reverence, to one degree or another, and I hear that in the first real track “Resignation II”. But like other songs in this collection, “Resignation II” is a multifaceted trip, and also channels moods of anguish and melancholy. There is a wailing and weeping sound in one of the recurring melodic motifs, and a mournful moodiness in the bass tones. The vocals themselves are haunting and brutal, and despite that they’re quite wide-ranging in their expressions, though all the expressions are scarily intense.
There are five real tracks here (+ intro), each of them being minimum five minutes long. This means that each song has several sections, which are nicely connected via interludes or more ambient passages. What I can personally say is that this album flew by and I could have done with one or two more tracks. Often albums would need a bit more trimming and streamlining, but this is an album where I feel that additional songs would have benefitted the overall picture. It takes a bit to be fully taken away by the record, so it would have been great to stay in the groove once you’re in it. Coming with a bouncy and expertly created sound this might be one of the strongest entries of the Schattenkult roster.

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