Band:	Thanatotherion
Album:	Alienation Manifesto
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	June 07, 2024
A review by:	RaduP

01. Red Cathedral
02. The Raven And The Box Of Stars
03. Orb
04. Wilczyca
05. Nuclear Womb
06. Lament
07. Codex Crepusculum

Thanatotherion is the black metal project of one Shelby Lermo, known for his work in Vastum and Ulthar. Knowing this was enough to make me want to check it out so that's what I'm putting out there first.

In truth, there have been some other things other than the many lineup connections of Shelby Lermo that have captured my attention. First, the band name sounds like a portmanteau of Thanatos and Therion, which probably matters less to anyone but for my silly mind. Then the creature on that cover art is just too specific in its design to be just an "abomination" and someone (Daniel Vega more specifically) spent way too much time on making this creature have some sort of internal consistency to just be someone with no other credits on Metal-Archives. And then it's the fact that it's released by I, Voidhanger Records, generally a good indicator that it's going to be at least interesting in terms of extreme metal.

But sure, the first thing is the fact that Shelby Lermo has a bunch of interesting connections. He's the new Nails guitarist. He's played in not one, not two, but three different albums by different bands that I've reviewed. So I guess I am not only well versed enough in his work but also perfectly justified in being intrigued in checking a black metal album by someone mostly known for death metal. And after one EP as a one-man band, Alienation Manifesto also enlists the help of drummer Jason Bursese of Black Fucking Cancer fame. So that's the gist of the things around the album, how's the album itself?

Well the brand of black metal here is a bit of a weird one. There's more than enough here that is basically a second-wave worship, where Lermo's barked shouts/shrieks go over cold riffs and some admitedly very impressive drumming by Bursese. But then again the ambient interludes have way too much space given to them to be just interludes, and the futuristic synth soundscapes in them feels at such odds to the rest of the music, which also has plenty of moments where the death metal background comes stronger into play, either through some riffs that are a bit more muscular or from the occasional death metal growls. At its meanest, there's even a dash of thrash metal in how fast and pummeling it can get, and those sections really show how much Thanatotherion benefits from having an actual drummer.

It's weird having that futuristic sounding synth being used, not only in the aforementioned interludes, but also as a dash of symphonic black metal to the core sound. Couple that with some weird processed vocals and it's a sound that's quite the oddball. It's quite clear that Alienation Manifesto is doing quite a lot to stand out, it has plenty of great qualities in the drum performance, the riffing and the soloing especially is fantastic, and even the oddball nature of how the synths are integrated is quite charming, but I also can't deny that it doesn't always feel like everything is coming together cohesively. The shrieks aren't the most engaging, the production doesn't always make things as immersive or impactful as it could be, and there's plenty in terms of jarring transitions between metal sections and synth-based ambient sections.

Alienation Manifesto shows a lot of potential and uniqueness, but there's still work left before that potential is delivered on.