Press - Reviews
01st June 2011
Origami review, Lords of Metal

ThanatoSchizO

Origami
CD, Major Label Industries, 2011

In my opinion Thanatoschizo as a band name is an unfortunate choice. You constantly have to think when you write down the name which I find quite annoying. But even worse is that the name is associated with black and death metal, at least I do. And the music of this Portuguese band has nothing to do with black or death metal. The band has released four albums already and thought the time to be right for something completely different. They decided to record some of those old songs in a very different version: (semi) acoustic, with many more ethnic and electronic influences. That sounds surprisingly good! It's pretty special what you hear on this album: rock, gothic, pop, world music, it’s all there on ‘Origami’. The band frequently uses typical instruments (clarinet, balalaika, cavaquinho and trumpet), which makes the music sounds pretty original. 

t times the music sounds reminiscent of the acoustic music that Pain Of Salvation recorded, but also of the acoustic music of Anathema as clearly evidenced by a song like 'Pervasive Healing'. Patricia Rodrigues's voice resembles the timbre of Lee Douglas, but the Portuguese technically sings much better. The ethnic element is what distinguishes Thanatoschizo from those bands. More than once you will hear traditional music in the compositions of the band (‘RAWoid’, ‘Pale Blue Perishes’). Fans of the acoustic work of Anneke Van Giersbergen’s The Gathering will also enjoy this album ('Unbearable Certainty’, ‘Dance Of The Tender Leaves’, ‘The Journey's Shiver’). Unfortunately I am not familiar with the original versions of the songs but I must say that each of them are convincing even in these acoustic versions. Just listen to a track like 'Sublime Loss’, which is very cleverly put together, with nice rhythmic contributions of drummer Paul Adelino and beautiful chord work Guilhermo Martins. Fine album by a talented musical group. 

Wim

5 CDs + 1 EP
€45.00 / $58.50
Qty: