Coil
Horse Rotorvator

THE REVIEW

"Horse Rotorvator" is the ideal complement and continuation of the previous "Scatology" and stands as an essential milestone in "Industrial" music, as well as the musical apex of Coil. The music is original and eclectic, rooting itself in the "industrial" past of the seminal Throbbing Gristle (of which Peter Christopherson was a part) and in the subsequent esoteric experiences of Psychic TV, the cult group of the first English post-industrial wave, which included future founders of Coil John Balance and P. Christopherson, in addition to David Tibet, who would later lead Current 93, a group very close in conceptual themes.

The "concept" underlying the album is essentially "esoteric", a sort of outrageous and twisted re-reading on the theme of the Apocalypse, in which a possible second Universal Flood is evoked through the construction of the "Horse Rotorvator," an infernal machine built with the bones of the four horses of the Apocalypse. The images evoked by the music are "infernal" and macabre and will undoubtedly capture the interest of the horror writer Clive Barker: the soundtrack of the famous film "Hellraiser" was indeed composed by Coil but was later rejected because it was considered too uncommercial.

The Coil pay great attention to the details of the lyrics where mythical references often mix with personal themes and obsessions, thus constructing a sort of "new mythology" for future centuries. In "Horse Rotorvator", in fact, one can find many citations from ancient Rome reinterpreted in an original and universal key.

The music that emerges from the grooves of this epochal industrial album is very fragmented; each piece carves out its own peculiar space, but this does not undermine the compactness of a "sound" from which many future bands will draw inspiration.

"The Anal Staircase" opens the album in a disruptive way, with the declamatory voice of an obsessive Balance supported by disconnected, dragging, and martial rhythms enhanced by the essential contribution of Peter Christopherson's sampler: an epochal track that resonates in the ears and penetrates deeply into the unconscious. The absolute "Must" of the album is undoubtedly "Ostia" (The Death of Pasolini), a sad and moving elegy on the death of the famous writer, which benefits from a spectacular arrangement of strings and effective acoustic guitar arpeggios.

The figure of Pasolini is as crucial in Coil's imagination as those of William Burroughs, H.P. Lovecraft, and Crowley: there is, therefore, the commendable intent to recover and re-propose the ideas of these eccentric artists.

The other strong pieces of the album are the devastating march of "Penetralia", characterized by the massive use of distorted guitars and brass, and the haunting "Slur", a very evocative track supported by lyrics evoking mythical and abstract images. Also very convincing is the reinterpretation of Leonard Cohen's "Who by Fire" in a "dark" key.

The album closes with three much quieter pieces than the previous ones but that have a remarkable persuasive and cinematic force. Balance and Christopherson will always be engaged in various soundtrack projects: the atmospheres lean towards a sort of dark-ambient apocalyptic, positioning the group once again at the avant-garde and thus closing the nightmare generated by these grooves.

After "Horse Rotorvator", the Coil interrupt the magmatic and esoteric flow, putting an end to the first phase of their career. It will be the "Moon Music" of "Musick to Play in the Dark" and "Astral Disaster" to subsequently re-propose their art at the highest quality standards.