Thanatos is a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 Death metal

Death metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

/Thrash metal

Thrash metal

Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...

 band. With a history dating back to 1984, they are the oldest death metal

Death metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

 band from the Netherlands. Their second album, Realm of Ecstacy, had received positive marks from Dutch music magazine Oor

Muziekkrant OOR

Muziekkrant OOR is the oldest currently published music magazine in the Netherlands. The name "OOR" is the Dutch word for ear.-History:The magazine was first published on 1 April 1971, being founded by Barend Toet . Of the first issue 20,000 copies were printed and paid for by Berry Visser, one of...

 for its solid compositions and challenging arrangements. After enduring constantly changing line-ups and problems with distribution, promotion, and even ownership of the rights to the second album, Thanatos folded in 1992, the final straw being the cancellation of a tour with Cannibal Corpse

Cannibal Corpse

Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band from Buffalo, New York. Formed in 1988, the band has released eleven studio albums, one box set, and one live album...

 and Exhorder

Exhorder

Exhorder is an American thrash/groove metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana. They are credited as the purveyors of the groove-oriented thrash sound later made famous by bands such as Pantera, White Zombie, and Machine Head. Initially active from 1985 to 1992, they have since reformed in...

.

In 1999, founding member Stephan Gebédi revives the band, which signs with Hammerheart Records. First come two albums with demo and live tracks, then the band's first full album, Angelic Encounters, in 2000. An EP with original songs as well as covers from Celtic Frost

Celtic Frost

Celtic Frost was a metal band from Zürich, Switzerland. They are known for their heavy influence on the extreme metal genres. The group was first active from 1984 to 1993, and re-formed in 2001. Following Tom Gabriel Fischer's departure in 2008, Celtic Frost decided to break up again...

 and Possessed

Possessed (band)

Possessed is an American death metal band, originally formed in 1983. Noted for their fast style of playing and Jeff Becerra's guttural vocals, they are routinely called the first band in the death metal genre...

 is released by Baphomet. After a few shows in Greece and a short tour with Pungent Stench

Pungent Stench

Pungent Stench was a darkly humorous death metal band from Vienna, Austria, which formed in 1988. Their last known lineup consists of Martin Schirenc , El Gore , and Alex Wank...

, the band record their fourth album, Undead. Unholy. Divine, described as a solid return to 1980s metal (in the style of Slayer, Possessed) with the addition of blast beats. Release of a fifth album, Justified Genocide, was postponed when the band's label at the time, Black Lotus Records, went bankrupt; Dan Swano

Dan Swanö

Dan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.As a multi-instrumentalist he is...

 reportedly will finish the mix for the CD. To celebrate more than twenty years of Dutch death metal, Thanatos releases (on Chinese label AreaDeath Productions) a limited-edition box (300 copies) containing Emerging From The Netherworlds, Realm Of Ecstacy, and Angelic Encounters, besides 56 bonus tracks and 19 videos.

In February 2009, the band issued an update containing details about their upcoming album Justified Genocide. It will be released on March 15 in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and April 6 in the UK and Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

Demos

• Speed Kills (1984)
• Rebirth (1986)
• The Day before Tomorrow (1987)
• Official Live Tape 1987 (1987)
• Omnicoitor (1989)

Studio Albums

• Emerging from the Netherworlds (1990)
• Realm of Ecstacy
  Realm of Ecstacy
  Realm of Ecstacy is the second album by Thanatos. It was released in 1992. The re-release contains four bonus tracks taken from the Omnicoitor demo.-Track listing:# "And Jesus Wept" – 6:03# "Tied Up, Sliced Up" – 3:16...
  
  (1992)
• Angelic Encounters (2000)
• Undead. Unholy. Divine. (2004)
• The Burning of Sodom/...And Jesus Wept (2006)
• Justified Genocide (2009)

Current

• Paul Baayens - guitar
• Marco de Bruin – bass
• Stephan Gebédi - guitar, vocals
• Yuri Rinkel - drums

Former members

• Ed Boeser – bass
• Erwin de Brouwer - guitar
• Rob de Bruijn - drums
• Remco de Maaijer - guitar
• Aad Kloosterwaard - drums
• André Schepenberg - bass
• Mark Staffhorst - guitar
• Remo van Arnhem - drums
• Theo van Eekelen - bass
• Marcel van Arnhem - drums