Coil
Live Two

"Live Two" by Coil, recorded on September 15, 2001 in Moscow, is undoubtedly an intense and fierce listening experience. The band's live performance focuses on the more dissonant and aggressive material that Coil were producing at that time, with a focus on tracks from albums like "Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil" and the EP "Restitution of Decayed Intelligence". The record captures the quintessence of Coil's art, experimental electronics pushed to the limits of the listenable, capable of penetrating deeply into the listener's soul. The concert opens with the windy "Something: Higher Beings Command," a track from "Musick To Play In The Dark 2" that immediately captures attention with its circular rhythm and rising drone. The dense and heavy atmospheres create a perfect introduction to a set that leaves no room for compromise. The frenzied voice of the shaman John Balance acts as a guide in this sound world, pushing the listener to remain immersed in a vortex of electronics that seems never to want to calm down. With "Amethyst Deceivers," one of their live essentials, the band continues to explore darker and more unsettling sounds. The track manages to envelop the listener in a darkness that is both mysterious and seductive. The unreleased track of the set, "What Kind of Animal Are You?", is a glaring example of the Coil's more brutal and primal side. Balance, with his whispering voice and sudden screams, transforms into an animalistic entity, questioning and proclaiming himself now "salamander," now "dog". The track is chaotic, electric, and invasive, a real burst of energy that overturns every musical convention and refers to a deeper reflection on the nature of being human. "Blood From the Air" comes from their album Horse Rotorvator (1986), one of the band's most significant works. In this live version, the track is performed in a more measured fashion compared to its original, more impetuous and industrial version. The new interpretation is surprisingly atmospheric and relaxed, yet it still retains its haunting aura. The track glides between lounge electronics and soft drones, maintaining a sense of latent danger that never quite disappears. With "The Green Child," Coil continue their journey into the unconscious. The track unfolds slowly, transporting the listener to a world of hypnotic sounds and distorted settings. Balance's voice, enigmatically present, guides through a soundscape that seems to escape any temporal logic. The track is a sensory experience that challenges ordinary perceptions and creates an atmosphere of anticipation that dissolves into nothing. The set concludes with "Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil," a sixteen-minute track that represents the pinnacle of the performance. This piece is the culmination of all of Coil's sound exploration, an endless expanse of drone, distorted voices, and electronic percussion intertwining in an unrelenting spiral. The track leaves no margin for breath, it's an immersive experience that nullifies time and reality, plunging the listener into a world of distorted sounds and voices that seem to come from a parallel dimension. I was then surprised by the quality of the recording: "Live Two" sounds really good and is undoubtedly an album to own for Coil fans. Available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRk4OQQ3_zQ.