I first ran across Thanatos some years back on Padraic Ogl's 1993 Projekt release, "This Endless Night Inside". I loved that disc as well as subsequent Thanatos releases after it. Listening to Patrick Ogle' s latest work, IllegalTeenageBikini and their/his "I Am Not Job", one gets a sense of intensity. With the precision of sharp surgical tools, Patrick Ogle slices through the giddy childishness of many of today's bands and delivers piercing commentaries of matters kept far too deep in the psyche of man.

With the acoustically poetic strength of his early Projekt years fused with the nuclear sear of his later efforts, like Blisters, Ogle's IllegalTeenageBikini, returns him to the world where he belongs. While I loved "Blisters", I find this work to be superior in a multitude of ways. There is a curious merge of his career in the whole of this disc. Within, there is a heart and soul examination on a cold and soulless stainless steel table.

The disc shocks the system with an industrial barrage from track one, ""Massive, MASSIVE, Object" delivering soundtrack like drama with its rhythmic drum loops, slight acoustic guitar strums, and fearsome vocals. The assault continues with a seamless segue into "I Am Not Job", a song that produces demands on our thought processes. But there is a beauty in the deliverance of the songs, a measure of affecting sadness. It's understood in the words, it's heard in the vocals, and it's translated in the music.

The acoustic guitar that is the heart of this work showcases the tonal quality and softness while the industrial programming add the harsh walk through the lands of darkness that fills the veins of this disquieting work. All songs, there are nine of them, are a thinking man's project; a jaunt into the fire.

After hearing "I Am Not Job", one recognizes immediately that Patrick Ogle is still in top form. So much so, that, you wonder why he left in the first place. Now that he's back, let's hope that he stays.

The stereo mix is a master of a production. The flows between channels are well executed. The vocal gains are perfect and the center effect is great.

The disc is a highly satisfying effort and one that I'm glad was produced. I had missed the talents that exuded from Thanatos/Ogl and now rejoice that we get a new set of observations from the craftman.

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IllegalTeenageBikini

Released: ??, 2002
Origination Year: 2002
Time: 38:27
Tracks: 9
Produced by: mpltr & Patrick Ogle
Engineered by: Various
Mastered by: Robert Rich
Style: Studio
Format: CD
Enhancement: None
Label: Precipice
Website:
www.illegalteenagebikini.com

Massive, MASSIVE, Object
I Am Not Job
Akira Okubu
Oklahoma City Ballroom
Larger Than the Sky
Drop the Dime
Statues Never Have Fingernails
I'm Still Not Job (Remix)
Between the Wars