Coil
Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil

THE REVIEW

Dais Records continues to reissue some of Coil's works that had become virtually unobtainable. Following the commendable reissue of the 2 volumes of Musick To Play In The Dark, they have released Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil from 2000 (and therefore one year after the mentioned Musick To Play In The Dark), as well as Time Machines and Queens Of The Circulating Library. Coil had changed their skin compared to the first phase of their career represented by milestones like Scatology and Horse Rotorvator. They themselves described the music of that period as “Moon Musick”. Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil, reissued for the first time on vinyl (but it is also available in digital and CD versions) probably represents a minor episode in their discography, yet it is not without interesting material. The music contained here is clearly characterized by the contribution of new member Thighpaulsandra, who gives the sound his creative imprint. Objectively, what stands out on this occasion is the more experimental and expanded side of the group that will find full consecration in the acclaimed Time Machines. We are faced with a minimal and amphetamine sound: in the long and unsettling “Tunnel Of Goats,” the full irreverent charge they were capable of emerges. In the hieratic “I Am The Green Child” (a song which, in my opinion, hints at certain evolutions that we will hear in the posthumous album The Ape Of Naples), the focus is instead on the great and late John Balance on vocals, delivering like a shaman a text that speaks of madness and oblivion. In conclusion, Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil may not be among their fundamentals, yet it reveals the undeniable ability of Coil to always seek new forms of expression. Available on Bandcamp: https://coilofficial.bandcamp.com/album/constant-shallowness-leads-to-evil.