Thanatos : This Endless Night Inside

ARTIST:     Thanatos
TITLE:      This Endless Night Inside
LABEL:      Projekt (pro37)
TRACK TIME: 73:00

I was once asked what my favorite Projekt Records disc was. I answered, "Whichever one's playing." I was serious about this. It is hard to pick a favorite among great releases. I am reduced to picking those that I don't like as well rather than those that stand above. I find myself confused by This Endless Night Inside (pro37) the debut release by Thanatos, I'm just not sure what to think. The tantalizing tease that one receives from the two Thanatos tracks appearing on the Across This GrayLand #3 compilation had me awaiting the arrival of this disc with a quivering soul. I bought this disc as soon as I could get it ordered. "The Shadowed Sky Now Settled" made me think of Peter Murphy style vocals to the degree that I had to check the liner notes to reassure myself that it was indeed not Murphy singing on this disc. Then, to insure that I wasn't going insane, I played this song for a Bauhaus fan friend of mine and told him it was Murphy singing. He looked at me and said, "No it's not...is it?" This track is awesome and renamed "The Shattered Sky Now Settled" on This Endless Night Inside.

This release is radically differeent from the other CDs which Projekt has seen fit to gift the world. For one, a majority of its cuts have an energy that is quickly apparent and sets this disc apart from its fellow Projekt CDs. For another, this disc has an edge that the other releases appropriatly lack.

I hate classifying music. The best I can come up with and remain true to the artists is Good and Bad. To say that Thanatos is "alternative" does the artists a great disservice by lumping their music in with a lot of bad crap, but to say Thanatos is just Gothic would simply be a lie. In fact, until track 8 ("Tel Meggido") I was prepared to write off This Endless Night Inside as an acoustic venture by two talented people (Padraic Ogl/Sam Rosenthal). If you are one of those that can't sleep at night without know where each of your disc "belongs," then I say do not get this disc. Same goes if you are a strict Gothic collector.

Thanatos is all across the board with this disc, there are many acoustic driven songs, vocal dependent songs, songs that seem to be on this recording for their humor value. It barely make use of the "ambient" sound that has come to almost define the Projekt line. Much of this Disc reminds me of David J's Crocodile Tears and The Velvet Cosh, or Etiquette of Violence, and perhaps the early years of Bowie. This Endless Night Inside is not at all what I expected it to be. With the touch of Sam Rosenthal, I had the misconception that I would be served up another assortment of Black Tape for a Blue Girl cuts under another name. I was dead wrong, and am still trying to deal with this. Instead, I am reminded of three of my favorite artists' work, and still Thanatos does not sound like a clone band. There is enough fresh artistry here to satisfy me.

"Tel Meggido" is a dark slow poetic piece and could be considered one of the best on the disc, then a case could be made for each track. "The Cobra school of Happiness" is another such tune.

This disc has a "though the years" feel to it and supposedly Thanatos has been around for a decade, so if this is true this is understandable. The artist give this warning, "We take no responsibility for the chimp-like simplicity of the lyrics written when we were 15 years old." The only thing is, they don't identify which songs these are! As I listened, I kept wondering what had been written then and what now. In the end I don't think it matters. One of my favorite songs on this disc is "Connie." Which amazes me to say, as I don't know of another comparable song that I do like. Some of the words in "Connie" are hard to understand, but while the emotions behind the song are complex, they are universal.

The only song I have a disliking for is "Thanatos," which is beginning to make me wonder if I just happen to have a personal problem with all of Projekt's self-titled songs (although the title track is one of the best). The chorus of "Thanatos, Thanatos," begins to grate and I have a great dislike of such lines as "Patience wearing oh so thin/nothing where a brain should have been/remember touching skin to skin/thanatos." These words would be fine if they weren't meant to be taken seriously, but they are the only ones given on the disc insert (I don't think this song is supposed to be funny). The flags that signal CD players, that it is a new song, end at this track, and for the next minute, 25 seconds, there is nothing but the sound of a needle dragging across the end inner groves of a vinyl record. This effect has appeared on many Digital recordings and generally incites a confused reaction among CD buyers. Many can't understand why one would wish to put such annoying "archaic" sounds on a disc at all, when the whole point of CDs was to get rid of such. I have no answer, and a minute 25 could also be considered a little excessive, and well I'd have to agree. It's as if Thanatos wishes the listener to stop the disc here, but immediately after these needle pops are several more songs, most of which are quiet good. It would be a shame if these went unheard because of a lack of patience.

I will be able to find aspects of this disc to enjoy for years to come, and this disc will be one of those that I reach for often.

send for a free catalog of gothic-ambient music
projekt. box 1591. garden grove, ca 92642-1591

argent@iastate.edu