Fatum (Best Of 2000-2012)

Onwards and upwards ? that was the direction the sorrowful poets MANTUS took in recent years. Annually, new albums and brimful EPs were released, each and every one of them bested by ever new impulses from the somber creative mastermind of MARTIN SCHINDLER. After a matchlessly creative phase that has been running since 2009, the artist backpedals for the first time ? and arranges a retrospective impressively showcasing all that MANTUS did for the Gothic scene in recent years.
'Fatum' is the first best-of album since 2006's 'Chronik' - already emphasizing its meaning with the title: For MARTIN SCHINDLER, MANTUS is more than a band. It is his fate, his 'Fatum'. On two jam-packed CDs, the architect of tears casts a glance backwards upon the years 2000 to 2012, upon twelve long years of Gothic history. A lot of things have happened in these years, crises and blows that made it all but certain whether this project would see the year 2013. Somewhat programmatic, the best-of commences with 'Untergang', the opening hymn of 'Requiem' to whose tunes the scene danced as one in 2009. And this is only the beginning ? albeit a very fitting at that. What follows are 29 tracks ? from the melancholy Todeskunst beginnings ('Gemeinsam in den Tod') via irreplaceable Gothic classics like 'Kleiner Engel flügellos' up to more current, guitar driven Gothic Rock anthems ('Hoffnungslos allein'), every single MANTUS era gets the respect it deserves. Needless to say that this can't be enough.

'Fatum' is a far cry from the usual compilation of a career's highlights. This double album is the consistent documentary of the burning passion with which MARTIN SCHINDLER worked from the very beginning ? and which he holds dear to this date. Alternative and previously unreleased versions, carefully updated remakes of the early Gothic monuments 'Kleiner Engel flügellos', 'Wie ein Engel' or 'Gemeinsam in den Tod' as well as the brand-new, biting and intense song 'Trauma' add to this melancholic stroll through the past. Only in its all-embracing splendour, 'Fatum' proves how much German Gothic actually owes this project. MANTUS are among the last remaining poets of the true Gothic culture ? and 'Fatum' is their timeless legacy.