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Thanatos
Interview with Stephan Gebedi
By: Terry Bunch
Date: July, 2009

Stephan: At this moment we're trying to squeeze in some live shows for the Fall. Because of the busy schedules of both Hail of Bullets and Asphyx, we haven't been able to promote the album live yet, but we're definitely trying to get some more shows planned in the last couple of month of the year.

S: We never focused on one theme for an album. It's always been a mixture of horror-inspired stuff, attacks on organised religion, lyrics based on historical events and occult themes. For this album the approach/inspiration wasn't really that different, but the lyrics turned out more realistic and less fanatasy/horror inspired. In 'The Devil's Triangle' you'll find occult and historical stuff combined for example. 'They Feed On Fear' is about mind control by the authorities, 'March Of The Infidels' ia another attack on religious fundamentalists...muslims, christians, whatever...I guess I was a bit more pissed off about the actual state of the world this time so the lyrics turned out a bit more harsh and in your face... I guess the music on the new album actually the biggest inspiration for the lyrics.

S: Yep, it was just a precaution. We were interviewed by the BBC once because of an anti-Islam song on the previous album, but that was no big deal really. Even with the Hail of Bullets there was some controversy about the lyrics...especially in Germany and we really didn't want to go through all this bullshit again. To me it's pretty obvious that our lyrics don't glorify the Third Reich or anything, but some people with less brain cells need double explanations.

S: Well we didn't record everything again; about 80% of the album (drums, rhythm guitars, bass, some leads) was already recorded when Black Lotus went bankrupt. We tried to get a new record deal right away , so we would be able to finish the labum, but that didn't work out the way we hoped. In 2007 and 2008, we were very busy with our other bands so we were more or less forced to put the band on ice. In 2008 we finished off the recordings and eventually found a label. So no, it wasn's a conscious decision or anything. We simply tried to make a better and more aggressive album than the previous one. This line up has also been together since 2002 now and this time I wasn't the only one who came up with songs for the album. Both Paul (guitars) and Marco (bass) contributed songs to this album and this resulted in a team effort I guess. I guess that's the main reason for this album sounding more complete than the previous ones.

S: Excess more or less has become a 2nd home for us. We have been recording there since 2000 and we get along very well with Hans Pieters, the guy who runs the place and does most of the recordings. The atmosphere is very relaxed and most people like the idea of being able to go home every night. Personally I don't mind being locked up in a studio for several weeks, becuase I'm more focused on the recordings then, but I must admit that sleeping in your own bed after a long day at the studio ain't a bad thing.

S: I guess that was the biggest reason, We've released albums through German, Greek, American, Chinese labels but the communication is so much easier with someone who lives 'around the corner' so to speak. Deity Down is a small label, but they're doing their best to push this album. We're not expecting huge sales with this one but the reactions form both press and fans have been great so far!

S: After being terrorized by all these female fronted gothic metalbands the past decade, there seems to be a bit of a death metal revival these last couple of years. We have some great death/thrash bands over here that all came out with good albums recently like Asphyx, God Dethroned, Hail of Bullets and Legion of the Damned. Some other cool bands are Nox and The Lucifer Principle...

S: ha! All our time is absorbed by the bands we play in; Our guitarist Paul for instance plays in Thanatos, Hail of Bullets and Asphyx and also still works as a teacher. Whenever we have a weekend off we try and go out to see bands playing. In Rotterdam, where I live, where I live there isn't much of a metalscene but we have the baroeg where a lot of bands play. Some other well known venues in Holland are Atak (Enschede), 013 (Tilburg) Dynamo, Effenaar (Eindhoven), Paradiso, Melkweg (Amsterdam) Podium (Hardenberg) and a lot more.. In the eastern part of the country there's more of an actual metalscene.

S: Thanx for your support, check out our MySpace page for regular updates (www.myspace.com/thanatos666). Cheers