CD Review: Thanateros - Tranceforming (Folk Metal, 2024)

I've not been into Folk Rock before but this release turned my head and made me curious on the contribution of this particular art to the music scene.

One day I opened up my postbox and a bubble letter came to the front. It came as a surprise as physical Compact Discs are a rare promo material that hardly comes in at all. The content revealed a mysterious horned artwork on the booklet and a backside cover with a CD.

The album art let's you imagine the content already.

There was no chance I had to listen to the CD. After a brief introduction the album opens up with a heavy track called "The Horned One". Besides the great drum intro the song itself was a bit of overload for me as the guitars are very dominant.

Anyway I'm glad to continue the journey as the next song "Everything Decays" turns out to come with a infectious hookline that doesn't allow to ignore the release once heard. Happily the release changes during the total running time of nearly 50 minutes. After the heavy first songs the music turns into more dream like softer tunes that allow to let go of our everyday sorrows. 

It allowed me to change into a universe of peace, inspiration, self reflection and looking upon topics out of sight for most of our troubled everyday existence. It all starts with "I Hold You" and continues on most of the following tracks except "Raise Your Voices" which ones again picks up more of the rough sides of the band.

I loved "Traceforming" most in all those times when the mood and atmosphere are coming to life. The violin that can be heard is such a fine instrument that adds a layer of special life to each of those softer tracks. The harder ones at least on this release weren't my favorites besides "Everything Decays" because of it's massive sing-along-chorus. 

The sound of this Thanateros release is outstanding. It shines crystal clear, powerful but also not too massive through the speakers and is a warmly welcomed element adding massively to the great performance of the musicians. All people that worked on this release must have put a lot of time and effort into this one. 

Having a look at the packaging reveals more joy as the booklet comes packed with fine and detailed band member pictures, full album lyrics and dedicated album art on every part no matter if it is front, inlay or backside cover. Because of it's massive sound and work on detail I recommend to pick up the physical version available from the band's website. It's well worth to spend on music - it holds joy for years to come if treated properly.

A download of the record is available on the Thanateros Bandcamp page. That's also the place where several single releases taken of the album are on offer if you prefer hand selected tracks. 

      

New compilation gives overview on folk metal scene in Mongolia

Heavy Metal is a world-wide movement that's what I've learned in all the times writing on this blog. But some regions of our blue planet are still a bit unexplored when it comes to our beloved music. Recently we took a look over to India to see what's going on there but what about the scene in Mongolia?

This lack of information seems to be what some people out there might have caused to start the Mongol Metal website. In their own description they say about themselves:

"(...) Mongol Metal is a heavy metal music organization from Inner Mongolia, China. We promote Ego Fall, Nine Treasures and Tengger Cavalry, three folk metal bands that combine Mongolian folk music with heavy metal, refering to as Mongol Metal, Mongolian Folk Metal, or Mongolian Nomadic Metal.

In their music, Morin Khuur, Throat Singing, Yatga and other Mongolian music elements are widely used.(...)"

To give people out there a quick idea of how this sounds like Mongol Metal has uploaded a full sampler featuring the bands Ego Fall, Nine Treasures and Tengger Cavalry.

So I used the opportunity to check them out and had a great time doing so. What a blast of sheer power combined with some unusual instrumentation and some traditional elements of early Heavy Metal (Throat Singing has become sort of rare these days but it was very common in the beginnings of metal music - thank you for bringing this back with your music!).

Having heard the stuff I'm totally wanting to hear and see more. It's also great to see the musicians dress in the traditional clothes of their region when posing for band pictures. You can see them in the diashow passing through when you call up the startpage of the Mogul Metal Website. 
But first of all have a listen for yourselfs in the player below to discover how the music of the bands sounds like:

You can also buy the songs as digital download through stores such as Amazon, Spotify or itunes. 
Make sure to keep up to date about the further musical development of the Mongol Metal scene via Facebook or check in at their excellent website.