Thanateros
On Fragile Wings

On fragile wings we fly over the landscapes listening to the shamanic tones of Ben and his band Thanateros, from their latest and most personal album to date. That is probably one way to look at it, the fragility of the soul is said to be represented through the music on an album that is back to the roots. I read several times that it is looking to the roots, the catchy style of the debut album from 2001, catchy as hell is what I read in the press sheet. The new drummer is said to be instrumental in this, also the lyrical content is said to be looking towards that debut album. Ben Richter seems to be the mind behind most everything creatively in this band he even does the graphics for the cover and stuff, and he is not bad at it, but I think he should have left it to someone else as the graphics is a bit boring.

It is described in the press material as rock or folk metal, I read shamanism and things like that as well. I think it is gothic in style, you could compare them to bands like Him with the same style of catchiness and deep voiced vocals. Good vocals and productions are reflections that I have when listening through the album, the catchiness also strikes me as all the songs are of a very catchy nature. The sound is good, the variation decent, as is the playing time, but I think it should have been a bit shorter as cutting away a few minutes would only be beneficial for the album.

On Fragile Wings is a good album with good songs. It is not an outstanding or special album though as I don’t think they offer anything particularly fresh or revolutionary. They have some great, and maybe even memorable tracks, like Fading and Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill; a song that more bands in this genre have covered. It is an album that offers some good stuff, but I miss the sense of personality, of creativity, and originality that the best albums can offer. If feels a little bit like Thanateros look backwards and not forwards, and by doing so they make a less relevant album.

Fans of bands in the same kind of style will like this album, it certainly presses the right buttons for the style. I think it is a fine and catchy album with catchy songs throughout, but there is something amiss that prevents it from reaching the highest reaches. But all things considered I still think that it is an album that could be worth giving a chance.

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