Search - Coil :: Astral Disaster

Brilliant

R. Schouten | Nijkerk, GLD Netherlands | 07/15/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First and foremost Coil on CD isn't as awesome as Coil live. I've seen them perform twice and damn do they mess with your mind. Utterly stunning display of lights, visuals, chaos and mood.That said This is one of my favorite CDs by them. It provides what Coil does best. Hypnotic music that will take you on a trip inside your imagination/dreams/nightmares... For those unfamiliar with Coil, they might take some getting used to because Coil is never a band to compromise. They do what they want wether people like it or not. And that's what makes them so powerful. Truly surreal music. Many times distancing themselves from traditional song structures in an extreme fassion.That brings us to the content of this album. 6 moody soundscapes with weird hypnotic electronics. Yet there are a few vocals which are equally surreal..
so you may say: 6 songs?!? well consider the fact that these 6 songs amount to over 70 minutes of music. The Mood on this album is dark yet astral.. (atleast to me) I felt like I had taken a journey through space and time after hearing this Cd. This is ideal musick(no spelling error here) to listen to before going to bed or when you're relaxing at night.
It will take you on a trip..."

Another Success

Jesse Melat | Cleveland | 08/02/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Though I do agree ... that this album isn't quite the caliber of _Black Light District_, I disagree whole-heartedly on the notion that it is a total waste. _Astral Disaster_ is, like BLD, an ambient album of sorts. It differs from it's predecessor in that its sound is much more ethereal and light; the sound palette is slimmer and the tracks seem a bit less cohesive. "I Don't Want to Be the One", with it's sampled violins and squealing, anguished vocals, contrasts starkly with, say, the deliciously relaxing "ambient" piece "The Mothership and the Fatherland". It's an excellent track in and off itself, and perhaps I'm nitpicking by faulting the band for track to track discontinuity, but it's merely something I'd like to point out. As for the tracks themselves, I like most of them very well, save for "2nd Son Syndrome", which is the closest I've ever seen Coil come to pretentious noodling. I almost always skip over it. The song simply (simplistically?) repeats the same watery noises over and over for four minutes, and is devoid of intrigue or even atmosphere. "Avatars", the opening track, features a selection of very strident sounds which create a very off-putting aural environment, effectively succeeding where 2nd Son failed. It is not unlike the shorter, more "experimental" sounding pieces on the various "Seasons" singles, to give a comparison."The Sea Priestess" is one of the more profound selections of the album, featuring John Balance giving a fantasy-tinged narrative to a dreamy, ambient backdrop. I often wonder if the man has ever considered trying his hand at actual written poetry; the material he reads here is certainly good enough to stand alone on the printed page. This is further evidenced by "MU-UR" which, instrumentally seems to be a re-mix of "The Mothership and the Fatherland", the differences being John's voice(altered unsettlingly to sound like woman's) and a few strident, metallic noises that suit each other perfectly. However, the true gem of _Astral Disaster_ has to be The Mothership, which has quicky become one of my favorite Coil songs; a sleepy, weightless piece of music that I've fallen asleep to many times. BLD this is not. It actually shares more in common with the aforementioned Seasons singles' less conventional moments, in my opinion, or with _The Angelic Conversation_. It's an off day for Peter and John, but even on their off days they still produce quality."

Travels beyond the horizon

P. Ortman | Midwest | 03/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Six tracks spanning over seventy minutes. Most are ambient, although there are certainly some vocal element provided by John Balance. My favorite tracks are "The Sea Priestess", "The Mothership and The Fatherland", and "I Don't Want To be the One". All in all a powerful CD. There is nothing to change on this album, originally produced in a limited edition of 99 presold copies, get this album now that it is available. One of Coil's strongest releases of all time. Cover Art done by Stephen Stapleton of Nurse With Wound fame."