Thanatos - This Endless Night Inside download free

This album follows a very similar style most of the way through - strumming acoustic guitar & dark, heartfelt forlorn songs. "Endless Night Inside" typifies the style - a slow, hollow sounding piece combining the simple guitar with a cello-like syntb sound. It comes across like some of the more mournful pieces from THIS MORTAL COIL's "Blood". "Entangled: Our Bodies" brings in a distant but distinct electric guitar & some flat drums, the song controlling the music rather than vice versa. "Necessities Of Hell And Creation" has somehow a darker feel to it, an atmosphere of standing on an abyss, looking in (be careful, remember Nietzsche's words). A cold, soul-destroyed song. "Not Just O.K." returns to the safety & warmth of the singer/songwriter's insular world. This song's a little lighter, a more positive, perhaps optimistic, like a dried-out, peace-lovin' LOU REED taking a New Age path. "Brush Up" again uses a minimal sound - the simple strumming combined with an almost shy keyboard sound while OGL's voice, forlorn & strong, holds it together. "The Wait Smothers Me" combines the guitar & voice with moaning tones & what sounds like the shimmer of sitar - again a hollow, soul-felt song. "Moon Of Dying Grass" is another soulful piece, building its gentle sound out of the cold, reaching for an unseen sky. "Tel Meggido" changes the mood to a dark dramatic tension of rich keyboards. again heavily similar to THIS MORTAL COIL' s sound - a drama of sustained horn-like blankets. "The Cobra School Of Happiness" remains in the nightmare regions of OGL & ROSENTHAL's darker emotions with various chill keyboards, ponderous bass & icy fuzz guitar - a coldly detached song which sets the mood well for their cover version of BLUE OYSTER CULT's "Don't Fear The Reaper" - a very different verson to the original, sounding a lot like BAUHAUS having been slowed down to a sluggish soporific pace. It's a jungle rhythm from some Lovecraftian hidden Cthulhu-worshipping cult. "My Love Is Death" lightens the mood slightly, returning to the soul-searching loneliness - a cold, depressed, disquiet song. "What Happens Next" could almost be BOB DYLAN in a happy mood after finally shifting the nasal blockage which has haunted him for decades, seeking celebration in his roots. "Thing Fall Apart" heads to even lighter areas - this has a toy instrument sound, a naivety of lyric & a likeable atmosphere altogether. "Rain" returns to a more soulful, TMC sound - hollow & lonely as someone lost to love sitting for hours, scrying reason out of his mirror reflection in an evening-darkened room. "Oh No" is a tiny little love song, returning to the intro sound of acoustic guitar & cello, minimal & reflective. "Moon Over Jerusalem" is a lightweight political song, and as such seems quite effective - if they were ever to release anything as a single (not really a good idea) this might be a good choice as an 'A' side. "The Shattered Sky Now Settled" has a certain tense drama to it, reminding me in essence of a lighter, less benign CURRENT 93 sound - inward-looking, seeking something it suspects is hidden within. "Red Rocks, Coyotes" is another of their heartfelt, more memorable songs - reminding me of a blood-drained hybrid of LLOYD COLE & LOU REED after both have made peace with their souls, "Connie" is a light piece - a sad/happy memory set to music. "Thanatos", another memorable track has a larger sound, the guitar providing foundation for the scaling keyboards & harmonic, angelic voices. Last credited track is "Love Me Do", a version of "Jocko Homo", the old DEVO song spoken over an asphyxiating warm organ sound which is joined by a variety of strange Industrial sounds - very different to the pre-Techno blast of the original. Staying on the same track we firstly visit an early version of a previously played track, then we move on, visiting another, more electronic-sounding piece - a little more stark, with visible blades of sound. The next piece again uses electronics with a more stark sound - a fast, indistinct drum beat & none-too-subtle synths. A couple of early versions of the previous songs - including an even brighter, "Not Just O.K." which searches for direction. Another couple of unfamiliar pieces come next, with the keyboards drowning out the guitar, both seemingly about war. Another version of "Thanatos" draws the album to it's final resting place. At 73 minutes, you certainly get your money's worth with this, it's mostly subtle, non- offensive stuff, although it occasionally peers inwards a little too far, finding darker corners than it had hoped to or suspected. Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.