Ζεὺς καταχθόνιος — When mortals strike their hands down upon the soil and invoke him by oaths, curses and the tipping of the inverted krater only then does the guardian of the vast netherworld of guilt gain knowledge and begin to act. Calling to him in worship or, in despairing times engages the gears which possess the vessel and prepare the ritual of metempsychosis, a receptacle of blood and fire readied for the transmigration of the individual ’til the after-life call beyond the moment of death. None call louder to the halls of the dead, with the fire of the morning-star scarifying the throat and melting the eyes, than Russian black metal trio Thanatomass as a rupture between consciousness and feral mayhemic urge — the unhinged throat-cutting release that the herd so desperately needs in commune with the masters of their impending doom. ‘Hades‘ is not a solemn ceremonial slash at the nape of the bull but a two-handed chop at the very spine of the beast meant to incite terror, rampaging bloody death upon the crowd as they blast unholy away at this evolved-yet-ancient form of spectacularly cacophonic black metal. With this debut full-length the trio stab beyond the grotesque good of their minor releases up ’til this point and strike upon a nerve with intent, achieving a point of highly entertaining greatness that lends some much-needed fire to the greying, oil-slick ocean of bestial extremism today.

The steadfast trio of Thanatomass formed at some point prior to 2015 and the only thing we know for sure is that everything they have released to date is unholiest fire, starting with the speed metal influenced thresher of their first demo (‘MMXV-MMXVI‘, 2018) which was assumedly a collection of pieces written and/or recorded between 2015-2016. Those longer stretches of eerie, wandering riffs and caustic black-thrashing delivery suggested a Bestial Mockery and early Sarcófago influenced style to start, an elite form of black metal which would come gloriously evolved on their first official mLP (‘Darkest Conjurations‘, 2019). At that point their sound still represented the blustering, black/speed metallic thrusters of groups like Denouncement Pyre but also hinted at the kvlt of Katharsis being a big influence, or, produced a similarly stoked outcome which shocked forth from the speakers riff after riff. For my own taste that first record was beyond notable, an insanely strong introduction which spoke to the elite sensibilities of bestial black/death metal nowadays while still being entirely in tune with eh, heavy metal and the willful defiance of early extreme metal where bands like Hellhammer and Messiah among others were creating sophisticated rhythmic channels from ambitious barbarism. It would be fair to suggest these folks had the right idea from the very start but their craft only improved with each release.

It should be touted that every record from this group arrives as a substantial item, always averaging more than ~25 or so minutes of action without padding and with finely curated dark artwork which is considered to a very high standard of presentation and theme. Thus when ‘Black Vitriol & Iron Fire‘ (2021) struck me in the temple a few years back I had figured it was the debut LP from Thanatomass when I’d previewed it, at least until the provided literature corrected this notion. It was a frantic, wild sort of black metal record that emphasized the brutal madness of Katharsis (or, Black Fucking Cancer, Khthoniik Cerviiks, Teitanblood, et al.) from the ancient-thrashing side of the moon while featuring some insane vocal exaggerations, flurries of riff aimed at the skull, and retained the vital heavy metal aspect of their sound which continues to be a major characteristic worthy of great admiration. Not only can these folks write memorable, blood-thirsted songs and express themselves in a horrifying way but they do so in the best tradition of evil heavy metal. It is a point worth belaboring when considering the low-effort bestial black/death that regularly skates through underground crony circles. As I revisit their discography and appreciate the kicking, thrashing ride of their work all points only redeem further and this is rare for the sort of music they play.

‘Hades‘ is the realization of the inverted, serpentine readiness that’d been apparent back in 2021, the full-bore realization of their chaotic mass-death noise in a realistic and vibrant render which still reflects the shouting, shredding, and a hammered-at rhythms they’d been working on since the mid-2010’s at least and in this sense we get the complete picture of their intent and delivery upon the ambitions that’d been surmised in previous releases. The cold, corpse-slapping drum sound and the inter-woven room-noisome feeling of the recording is a big point of emphasis from my point of view, not quite as crisp as the rehearsal room perfection of Khthoniik Cerviiks but tapping into the same live-in-studio energy that this type of band specifically benefits from when approached by the weathered ear that understands the appeal of black/death metal in practicum and not just in-headphone. Though their approach will read as chaotic and overwhelmingly brutal to start this is the rare type of group which so clearly creates their work by obsession of riff and in person where synchronized efforts show mastery of their trio dynamic and guitar interest remains constantly strong in its thread. It simply wouldn’t work if they’d not perfected every interaction in practical space, especially considering that most of the main pieces here run between ~9-10 minutes in length on average.

“Templvm Carnalis / Vomit Ceremony” is a firestorm, a bashed-at spike of wrathful aggression with a cavernous pinging bulk to its snare pummeling stalk but this is not a mindless, machine pulse in fact beyond the whirlwind of flesh-stripping attacks, guitar trills abounding, and growling dictation the more mid-paced second movement shows some incredible rhythmic finesse beyond the more bluntly muscled interactivity of Thanatomass on past releases. It really does feel like they’ve stepped up not only the intensity and the obscure roar of their sound but put a lot of thought into these longer arrangements so that they begin to immerse, charging every macabre cinematic scene with more than just bloodied havoc. Granted you’ll soon realize that most of ‘Hades‘ thrives within its most heated, blasting moments which still tends to be their default attack in building up momentum.

While the opener had made the argument that the potential of the band for something great was real it would be “Living Tombs of Tartaros” that’d convince Thanatomass had managed to tap into some special arcane current for this record. A fairly unassuming thousand-punched slap to start, the song which begins to shotgun, howl and rattle the bones of my skull beyond ~1:25 minutes in finding a bass-driven groove and meandering dual guitar scaling for about a minute before they cut into the four-count bulldoze of the piece. The scream of the guitars, the barbaric patternation of the drums, and the grinding-down middle portion of the song create this sense that ‘Hades‘ is a point of mastery which’d always been there for the band and they’ve put together these longer-form pieces in showcase of not only physical skill but artful use of that endurance.

An absolutely welcome dent to the skull. — Of course the effect of the music is simple to read from that point on and it really is a matter of showcasing a full volume of ideas rather than a repetitive chunk of the previously described oeuvre. This is where they’ve shined best, or, entertained most in the sense that these folks have used similar diction, pacing, and accoutrement in constructing the four main pieces here but each one rests as its own memorable pillar to climb. “Sorcery of Hades” for example has the chasm-bound shrieks from beyond, the bass-forward groove nukes, and an almost d-beaten kick to some of its verses which can be found on some of the earlier pieces on the album but I’d never gotten the two confused even when not following the intense thread of the full listen; Of course it’d be fair to say that most of the best aspects of Thanatomass‘ sound has some precedence in some of the best black metal from the distant past but they’ve put enough work into ‘Hades‘ that this record never felt like it was a lesser-than version of another group so much as they’d built upon a fantastic tradition with a clear passion for the tuneful and immersive qualities of earliest extreme metal at its most passionate rip.

Of course you will have to have some vested interest in early black metal, bestial black/death metal, and understand the barren, or, rare niche which these folks inhabit to receive the proposition of ‘Hades‘ properly though there is something to be said for an album which has such a feral and violent energy behind it winning folks over with grotesque spectacle alone, too. For my own taste Thanatomass have arrived upon something great with this debut full-length, an opus of terror-stricken hypnosis and ancient-feeling realism which is beautifully complimented by cover artwork from the maestro Dávid Glomba and the raw yet dynamically bruising production values otherwise. A very high recommendation.

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