Interview for DEATHTHRASHER MAGAZINE by ARMANDO MUTILATOR : 

DT: Hi Stephan! one more time in DEATHTHRASHER, how are you my friend?.
T: HI ARMANDO, I'M FINE. WE'RE JUST WAITING FOR THE FINAL VERSION OF THE NEW CD TO ARRIVE. THEY SHOULD BE HERE ANY DAY NOW; WE GOT THE PROMO CD'S LAST WEEK, SO NOW WE'RE WAITING TO SEE THE FINAL VERSION...CAN'T WAY TO HOLD THE ACTUAL CD IN MY HANDS!

DT: What memories do you have about "Speed Kills" (Demo 1 - 1984)?.
T: I REMEMBER IT WAS RECORDED IN THE ATTIC ROOM OF OUR DRUMMER BACK THEN; WE WERE 15-17 YEARS OLD AND WE HAD TO PUT DUCT TAPE ON THE CYMBALS AND PUT CUSHIONS IN THE BASS DRUMS SO WE WOULDN'T GET INTO TROUBLE WITH THE NEIGHBOURS WHEN WE REHEARSED THERE AND RECORDED THAT DEMO, THAT'S WHY IT SOUNDS SO FUCKED UP HAHA!
A COUPLE OF MONTHS AFTER RECORDING THE SPEED KILLS DEMO, WE RE-RECORDED SOME OF THOSE SONGS AGAIN BUT THIS TIME WE REMOVED THE DUCT TAPE AND CUSHIONS AND TURNED UP THE FUCKING VOLUME; THOSE RECORDINGS WERE MUCH MORE BRUTAL THAN THE ACTUAL DEMO

DT: Who put the name of THANATOS and why?.
T: I THINK IT WAS OUR FORMER GUITARIST REMCO WHO CAME UP WITH THE NAME; FIRST WE WERE CALLED WHIPLASH, BUT THEN WE FOUND OUT THERE WAS ANOTHER BAND IN THE U.S. ALSO USING THAT NAME. WE WANTED A NAME THAT HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH DEATH WITHOUT USING THE WORD 'DEATH' SO WE CAME UP WITH THE GREEK WORD FOR 'DEATH' , ALSO USED FOR THE 'GOD OF DEATH' IN ANCIENT GREEK MYTHOLOGY; THANATOS

DT: "The Rebirth" (Demo 2 - 1986) was the most important Demo on the THANATOS career?... a cult gem !!!
T: PERSONALLY I THINK 'THE DAY BEFORE TOMORROW'(1987) WAS THE BEST DEMO IN OUR CAREER, THAT ONE IS MORE INTENSE. THE MOST IMPORTANT DEMO IN OUR CAREER HAS TO BE THE LAST ONE, 'OMNICOITOR' (1989), CAUSE THAT ONE GOT US OUR FIRST RECORD DEAL...BUT ON REBIRTH DEMO WE HAVE THAT ONE CLASSIC TRACK 'OUTWARD OF THE INWARD' THAT WE STILL PLAY NOWADAYS

DT: Are you Anti Homosexual band?.
T: HAHA, WHY DO YOU ASK THAT, DO WE LOOK GAY TO YOU ?? WE'RE DEFINITELY NOT A GAY BAND BUT I DO NOT HATE HOMOSEXUALS, AS LONG AS THEY KEEP A SAFE DISTANCE FROM MY ASS, HAHA... IF THEY COME TO NEAR I WILL KILL THEM!!! WE ARE AN ANTI-MUSLIM AND ANTI-CHRISTIAN BAND!

DT: Are you into soccer?
T: YES, I'M INTO SOCCER, ESPECIALLY INTO FEYENOORD ! I HATE AJAX BUT THAT'S OBVIOUS CAUSE I'M FROM ROTTERDAM AND IN HOLLAND THERE'S A BIG CONTROVERSY BETWEEN AMSTERDAM (AJAX) AND ROTTERDAM (FEYENOORD)...

DT: Do you prefer Edgar Davids or Clarence Seedorf?, Ruud Van Nistelrooy or Roy Makaay?.
T: I PREFER DAVIDS TO SEEDORF (PLEASE DON'T LET HIM KICK A PENALTY ANYMORE!!!) AND I PREFER VAN NISTELROOY, ALTHOUGH MAKAAY IS VERY GOOD AS WELL. BUT DON'T FORGET PIERRE VAN HOOIJDONK! THE MASTER OF FREE KICKS!

DT: Are you satisfied with Dick Advocaat?.
T: NO, FUCK HIM! HE HAS THIS WRONG, DEFENSIVE STRATEGY AND HE'S USING TOO MANY OLD PLAYERS, WE NEED FRESH AIR IN THE DUTCH TEAM

DT: Do you like THE GATHERING?.
T: NO, THAT'S DEFINITELY NOT MY KIND OF MUSIC, I CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE METAL SCENE ARE STILL TALKING ABOUT THIS BAND; THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH METAL ANYMORE!

DT: What can you tell me about your "The Day Before Tomorrow" (Demo 3 - 1987).
T: IT WAS THE SECOND TIME WE ENTERED AN ACTUAL STUDIO AND THE FIRST TIME WE RECORDED AS A FOUR PIECE BAND, I REMEMBER THESE RECORDINGS MEANT THE END OF OUR THEN BASSPLAYER CAUSE IN THE STUDIO IT BECAME EVIDENT THAT HIS TIMING WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO CONTINUE IN THIS BAND, SO WE HAD TO REPLACE HIM A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER. I STILL THINK IT WAS A VERY ENERGETIC DEMO TAPE DESPITE THE POOR MIX...

DT: Who designed the cover of "Omnicoitor" (Demo 4 - 1989)?.
T: I REALLY DON'T REMEMBER,I GUESS I DID...

DT: Your fave dutch food?.
T: I'M NOT INTO TRADITIONAL DUTCH FOOD AT ALL, I'M MORE INTO ORIENTAL FOOD (THAI, JAPANESE, INDONESIAN) BUT I LIKE DUTCH SNACKS LIKE 'KROKET', 'FRIKANDEL' AND 'PATAT' (FRIES)...

DT: Tell me about the "Emerging from the Netherworlds" (1990) and "Realm Of Ectasy" (1992) (Re - released Editions with Bonus Tracks) please.
T: WHEN I REFORMED THE BAND IN 1999 WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY REAL PLANS FOR A NEW ALBUM YET. THE MAIN REASON TO SIGN TO HAMMERHEART RECORDS WAS TO MAKE THE FIRST TWO ALBUMS AVAILABLE AGAIN... WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO PUT ALL THE ORIGINAL DEMO TAPES AS BONUS TRACKS ON THOSE ALBUMS, TO MAKE THE COLLECTION COMPLETE FOR EVERYONE...

DT: Why the band stopped between 1992 and 2000, until "Angelic Encounters" (2000)?.
T: A LOT OF FIGHTS BETWEEN THE BAND MEMBERS; TOO MUCH DRUGS AND ALCOHOL AND A BAD RECORD COMPANY THAT DIDN'T PROMOTE US..WE WERE JUST TOTALLY FED UP WITH EVERYTHING AND NEEDED A BREAK. THE OTHER GUYS LOST INTEREST IN METAL SO WHEN I REFORMED THE BAND IN 1999 I NEEDED NEW PEOPLE WHO WERE REALLY INTO METAL.

DT: Where and how do you knew to Paul Baayens?... do you like CREMATION?.
T: OUR FORMER DRUMMER AAD KNEW PAUL CAUSE PAUL HAD ONCE AUDITIONED AS A SINGER FOR SINISTER. AAD SAID HE WAS A COOL GUY AND A VERY GOOD GUITARIST AND WHEN HE AUDITIONED FOR THANATOS WE IMMEDIATELY KNEW HE WAS THE RIGHT PERSON. I THINK CREMATION WAS OK, NOT REALLY ME STYLE OF DEATH/THRASH BUT A PRETTY GOOD BAND...THEY SPLIT UP LAST YEAR...

DT: Do you know the Dutch bands ENRAGED, MORNING, SEPTUAGINT and UNAUTHORIZED?.
T: ONLY THE NAMES, NOT THEIR MUSIC, ALTHOUGH I THINK I HEARD SOME SONGS FROM SEPTUAGINT ONCE...

DT: How did the idea of the POSSESSED and CELTIC FROST covers for the fantastic "Beyond Terror" (2002)?... tell us about "In Utter Darkness" video included ... thanks again for my copy Stephan !!!.
T: WE LIKE DOING COVERS OF OUR FAVORITE BANDS; FROST AND POSSESSED ARE TRUE GODS OF METAL AND BOTH BANDS HAVE BEEN A GREAT INFLUENCE ON OUR STYLE, SO WE WANTED TO HONOUR OUR OLD HEROES BY PLAYING THESE SONGS...
THE VIDEO FOR 'IN UTTER DARKNESS' WAS RECORDED IN A SMALL BARN BY MAURICE FROM LOWLIFE MEDIA (THE SINGER OF OCCULT) HE'S DOING LOTS OF VIDEO AND DVD PROJECTS NOW (EXODUS, IMMOLATION, MELECHESH, AGENT STEEL) IT WAS A VERY LOW BUDGET VIDEO BUT I THINK IT LOOKS KINDA COOL

DT: Tell us about your last work, "Undead. Unholy. Divine" (2004), precise for the 20th anniversary of the band.
T: IT'S A BIG STEP FORWARD COMPARED TO 'ANGELIC ENCOUNTERS'; WE HAVE A MUCH BETTER DRUMMER NOW, THE SOUND OF THIS CD IS MUCH BETTER, AND THE SONGS HAVE A BIT MORE THAT FEELING OF OUR FIRST TWO ALBUMS COMBINED WITH FASTER RHYTHMS AND MORE BRUTAL STUFF THAN EVER BEFORE... LET'S SAY THE ENERGY AND SPIRIT OF OUR OLD WORK COMBINED WITH THE AGGRESSION AND SPEED OF 2004.

DT: Who designed the cover of "Undead. Unholy. Divine" ... it's killer !!! .
T: THE ORIGINAL PAINTING WAS DONE BY JACEK WISNIEWSKI (VADER ETC.) AND OUR BASS PLAYER MARCO CHANGED IT A LITTLE BIT, I THINK IT'S A GREAT COVER AS WELL, THANK YOU...

DT: Your future plans?.
T: WE MUST START WRITING NEW SONGS FOR THE NEXT ALBUM VERY SOON. WE ALSO HOPE TO PLAY SOME MORE SHOWS IN THE SOUTH OF EUROPE THIS FALL AND MAYBE JOIN SOME SHORT TOUR OR SOMETHING

DT: Your last comment for DEATHTHRASHER readers?.
T: TRY TO GET HOLD OF OUR NEW ALBUM OVER THERE! IT KILLS! WE WOULD REALLY LOVE TO COME OVER TO YOUR COUNTRY TO PLAY BRUTAL METAL FOR YOU, DRINK YOUR BEER, FUCK YOUR WOMEN AND DESTROY YOUR HOTELS!!! SO IF ANYONE'S INTERESTED TO GET US OVER TO PLAY IN YOUR COUNTRY, PLEASE CONTACT US! VISIT OUR WEBSITE: WWW.THANATOS.INFO STAY FUCKING BRUTAL!!!!