Thanatomass are a Russian Black/Death Metal trio from Moscow, active since 2018, known for a violently raw, occult‑charged sound rooted in bestial Black Metal, early Death Metal, and the ritualistic aesthetics of the LVX MorgenStern circle. They’re not total strangers to VM-Underground as we reviewed their releases in the past.
Musically, Thanatomass operate in the space between bestial Black Metal, Death Metal, and ritualistic occult extremity.
They have no recorded live activity and remain a studio‑focused, underground entity with a cult following.
The ‘Rabid Dead’ EP from 2026 is their latest release through the inimitable Nomad Snakepit Productions and Living Temple. The 3-track contains the usual cocktail of bestial Black/Death we’ve come to appreciate throughout the years. ‘The Rabid Dead’ is one of Thanatomass’ strongest releases to date: violent, riff‑driven, more controlled than ‘Hades’ from 2023, and marked by a clearer production that enhances the band’s bestial Black/Death attack.
Thanatomass’ riff craft is elite, channeling Pseudogod, Sarcófago, Katharsis, and Teitanblood into a slab of hideous and violent necromantic sorcery.
Thanatomass’ 2026 EP ‘The Rabid Dead’ distills everything volatile, ritualistic, and violently precise about the Moscow trio into a compact, three‑track assault that critics across the underground have described as both a refinement and an intensification of their Black/Death formula. What emerges from the combined critical observation is a portrait of a band sharpening its weapons rather than reinventing them: the EP is shorter, denser, more controlled, and more structurally deliberate than ‘Hades’, yet still steeped in the necromantic chaos that defines their aesthetic.
The opening title track immediately sets the tone. Fans consistently highlight its suffocating density, a piece so packed with riffs, rhythmic pivots, and ritualistic violence that it feels like an entire EP compressed into a single movement. Thanatomass’ trademark stop‑start riff architecture is on full display, channeling the jagged extremity of Teitanblood and the feral immediacy of Sarcófago, but with a clarity of execution that makes every strike feel intentional. The improved production, noted by multiple outlets, doesn’t sanitize the band’s bestial edge; instead, it sharpens the guitars and exposes the rhythmic backbone, giving the chaos a more coherent, cutting shape.
‘Flesh Catafalque & the Covenant Semen’ is the EP’s most divisive track, though even its critics acknowledge its ambition. Some people find its riff flow slightly unnatural, as if the band’s structural experimentation momentarily outpaces their instinctive violence. Others praise it as the clearest demonstration of the EP’s sound design, a track where the thrashing verve, cavernous atmosphere, and ritualistic tension lock together with remarkable force. What all agree on is that the track embodies Thanatomass’ willingness to push their formula without abandoning the core of their identity.
The closing piece, ‘From Vein into Chalice,’ is universally recognized as the EP’s apex. At nearly ten minutes, it is the most expansive composition in the band’s catalogue, and critics consistently describe it as better assembled than anything on ‘Hades’. Its dynamic pacing, shifting from frantic Black/Death violence to slower, oppressive passages, gives the track a narrative weight that feels almost ceremonial. The brief melodic emergence near the end, a moment of eerie grandeur before the final plunge back into chaos, is singled out by every reviewer as a rare and powerful flourish. It’s the kind of detail that suggests Thanatomass are not merely refining their sound but expanding its expressive range.
Across all criticisms, the production is a recurring theme. The clearer guitar presence and more defined rhythm section divide opinion: some argue that the increased fidelity reduces the murky, ambiguous aura typical of bestial Black/Death, while others celebrate the newfound sharpness as a sign of maturity. Yet even the skeptics concede that the EP’s violence remains intact, the clarity simply reveals the precision behind the brutality.
The consensus is unmistakable: ‘The Rabid Dead’ is one of Thanatomass’ strongest releases to date, a disciplined yet ferocious work that demonstrates superior riffing, structural evolution, and a tightening of their occult Black/Death identity. It is a release that feels both like a culmination of their past and a signal of future potential, a short, vicious ritual that confirms Thanatomass as one of the most compelling forces in Russia’s modern Extreme Metal underground.
