Press - Reviews
12th January 2003
InsomniousNightLift review, Vampire Magazine

THANATOSCHIZO (PORTUGAL)
INSOMNIOUSNIGHTLIFT (66:54)
RAGE OF ACHILLES


Reviewed by Vincent on January 12, 2003.

InsomniousNightLiftIf we have to believe the biography of the band THANATOSCHIZO, this band has rapidly made quite a name of themselves in their native country, Portugal. The signing of the band to small English label Rage Of Achilles is of course an indication that there is quite some potential present in the band. Let’s find out if they both are right!

“InsomniousNightLift” follows the EP “Melégnia” from 1999 and debut album “Schizo Level” from 2001. On this new album the Portuguese of THANATOSCHIZO (formerly known as THANATOS but they had to change the name) present their brand of Doom Metal, with a variety of vocals such as grunts, clean vocals and female vocals. A musically comparable band that occasionally comes to mind is the newer NOVEMBERS DOOM, but the different use of keyboards and additional female vocals in THANATOSCHIZO make their Doom Metal a bit softer than that of their American colleagues. Musically you could say they are somewhere between the newer versions of ANATHEMA and NOVEMBERS DOOM, but with their own twist to those sounds. More than the other bands, the focus of THANATOSCHIZO is on atmospheric elements. This is not just done by keyboards, but possibly even more by the use of acoustic guitar riffs. These are sometimes played underneath the heavier parts which make the overall appearance of the album less dark; on one or two occasions I would almost call the music on the happy side. An aspect that is definitely very positive is that on “InsomniousNightLift” the band uses the right dose of everything that their music contains: keyboards for instance are perfect in the mix and the different vocal styles rapidly interchange during songs. Fortunately, all the mentioned vocal styles can be considered as good, with a rather deep grunt, a male clean vocalist that has a decent voice, and a female vocalist that perfectly knows her own vocal skills. Admittedly, sometimes the music stays calm for a long time which doesn’t always help to maintain the focus, resulting in a track like “Upshot Veil” that drags on a bit too long. But actually this is a very decent album, and well worth the signing to a label. By far the best track is “Sublime Loss”, which has every positive element I just described, and coincidentally is one of the shorter tracks on the record. But the calmer “The Journey’s Shiver” is also a good track, and altogether there are no real horrors amongst the ten tracks on “InsomniousNightLift”.

So THANATOSCHIZO are maybe not the most brilliant band of them all, but the emotion and atmosphere in their music makes their second album and debut for Rage Of Achilles more than worthwhile. I can highly recommend fans of melodic, atmospheric Doom Metal to give this album a spin.
5 CDs + 1 EP
€45.00 / $58.50
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