Press - Reviews
24th April 2008
Turbulence review, Satan Stole My Teddybear
THANATOSCHIZO - Turbulence
Burning Elf Records
Around the turn of the century (surely you remember those halcyon days of yore), there was an insurgency of what was referred to "beauty and the beast" metal bands where pretty lasses sang pretty melodies alongside a gruff sounding grumpy male vocalist. This fad, fueled by the likes of the dubious Theatre of Tragedy, seemed to be all the rage for awhile. Napalm Records grabbed onto it and presented a series of album covers featuring various young ladies in various states of undress and along the line, my interest in the style waned. Perhaps yours did as well. No doubt many bands persevered, although I'm not inclined to check many of them out now.
This all brings me around to Portugal's ThanatoSchizo, who politely will not let me forget about them. This is actually a good thing, as they're one of the few bands that got into this particular subset of heavy metal and did something good with it. The band has the initial sound down pat, but has the tendency to wander a bit in their musical adventures, throwing in a variety of passages that deviate a bit from the form. It does add a certain degree of dynamics that are sorely missing from their brethren. "Beauty" vocalist Patricia Rodrigues has a voice that is good, while avoiding operatic hysterics. Her counterpart, Eduardo Paulo, alternates between the death growling and clean singing fairly well. What I find refreshing about this band is that their sound, while generally sticking to the old theme, doesn't sound contrived, cliched or undercooked.
Turbulence is the record that Dismal Euphony might have made had the Gods of Suck not devoured them. If you still have a hankering for this style of metal, ThanatoSchizo is one of the better purveyors of it.
John Chedsey
THANATOSCHIZO - Turbulence
Burning Elf Records
Around the turn of the century (surely you remember those halcyon days of yore), there was an insurgency of what was referred to "beauty and the beast" metal bands where pretty lasses sang pretty melodies alongside a gruff sounding grumpy male vocalist. This fad, fueled by the likes of the dubious Theatre of Tragedy, seemed to be all the rage for awhile. Napalm Records grabbed onto it and presented a series of album covers featuring various young ladies in various states of undress and along the line, my interest in the style waned. Perhaps yours did as well. No doubt many bands persevered, although I'm not inclined to check many of them out now.
This all brings me around to Portugal's ThanatoSchizo, who politely will not let me forget about them. This is actually a good thing, as they're one of the few bands that got into this particular subset of heavy metal and did something good with it. The band has the initial sound down pat, but has the tendency to wander a bit in their musical adventures, throwing in a variety of passages that deviate a bit from the form. It does add a certain degree of dynamics that are sorely missing from their brethren. "Beauty" vocalist Patricia Rodrigues has a voice that is good, while avoiding operatic hysterics. Her counterpart, Eduardo Paulo, alternates between the death growling and clean singing fairly well. What I find refreshing about this band is that their sound, while generally sticking to the old theme, doesn't sound contrived, cliched or undercooked.
Turbulence is the record that Dismal Euphony might have made had the Gods of Suck not devoured them. If you still have a hankering for this style of metal, ThanatoSchizo is one of the better purveyors of it.
John Chedsey
