Thanatomania - Resignation

THANATOMANIA - Resignation (SCHATTENKULT Produktionen CD 2018)

A mysterious project from Germania called Thanatomania comes with their debut full length "Resignation", released on Schattenkult Produktionen. Previously they unleashed an EP titled "Drangsal", and I definitely want to add it to my collection, because "Resignation" is a good piece of black metal, which I enjoyed a lot. For me it's one of these releases, which don't stand out with anything exceptional. It doesn't have anything what would put the album amongst the most memorable releases of the year. Yet, it's very solid and worthy music, which personally gave me a pleasure to listen to. OK, maybe words "pleasure" and "black metal" don't fit, but who cares. I did enjoy this album. 

Thanatomania plays a good mixture of slow / mid paced, kind of melancholic and sorrowful black metal with faster, more aggressive and harsh style. They do not avoid bringing melodic parts, but also feel quite comfortable when creating dark, cold aura. There's almost that DSBM feel to some of these tunes, which I'm usually not big fan of, but in this case it doesn't bother me. That slow, slightly minimalistic, yet not primitive, playing dominates on "Resignation", so Thanatomania really works on creating the specific mood in their music. But when it's necessary, a fast, more up-tempo fragments come in, bringing more energy and viciousness to the music. It also saves the album from being too one-dimensional. Definitely such "Resignation III" or "Resignation IV" are fine examples. 

Generally I think that Thanatomania offers enough good ideas to catch my attention. The whole album is a good variety of well written atmospheric black metal with whole spectrum of catchy riffs. Their arrangements and ideas may not be something unusual and unheard before, but rather standard for this sort of melancholic black metal, but the band did very well and quality is here. Every song is a potential standout for "Resignation", the music is quite memorable, what is surely a surprise. But this is what you get, when the music is mostly mid or slow paced, melodic and the production is so clean. For me personally the best songs are "Resignation II" and maybe "Resignation V", but with such a short album every song actually is a highlight. 

Standout tracks: "Resignation II", "Resignation V" 

Verdict: 75/100