Coil
Love's Secret Domain

This is the most accessible Coil album of the period, but don't be fooled: it's not an easy listen. At the time, many were confused, expecting a techno music record. Instead, the album bursts forth with wonderful arrangements and sound inventions that anticipate the UK's acid wave of the late '90s. "Love's Secret Domain" (LSD) radically departs from Coil's previous works, embracing "IDM" more than "Industrial". Clearly, the five years since the release of "Horse Rotorvator" have been steeped in a sea of heavy drugs.

In "Teenage Lightning 1", fragmented electronics and distorted voices mix with a bossa-nova rhythm that reverberates from one ear to the other without respite. The haunting voice of Annie Anxiety in "Things Happen" is disturbing and compelling. "Snow" is an intoxicating track, a tribute to drug use, while "Dark River" envelops the listener in deep ambient darkness. Rolf Harris plays the didgeridoo on "Even The Darkness Is Something To See," a piece that starts with a bouncing rhythm and self-destructs by the end. The shaky percussion and keyboard pulses in the second part of "Teenage Lightning" pick up the theme from the first part with an almost happily manic sound. "Windowpane" is one of Coil's most direct tracks, with a rhythm that touches upon house music.

"Titan Arch," performed by Marc Almond, evokes a Lovecraftian world where ancient deities emerge from the darkness. Here are the lyrics:

Crown the dark animal / Incorona l'oscuro animale
Black Jackal crawling / Nero sciacallo strisciante
Eternal returning / Eterno ritorno
An end to the waiting / Una fine all'attesa
There are thrones underground / Ci sono troni sottoterra
And monarchs upon them / E monarchi sopra di essi
They walk serene / Camminano sereni
In spaces between / Tra gli spazi nel mezzo
At the head of the storm / Alla testa della bufera
Darkness is rising / L'oscurità sta sorgendo
In the Garden of Jaws / Nei giardini di fauci
His wounds are shining / Le sue piaghe risplendono
Angels take poisons / Angeli si avvelenano
In rotting pavilions / In padiglioni marciti
Under shivering stars / Sotto stelle tremanti
The sickness is gilding / La malattia sta planando

"Chaostrophy" is a Stockhausen-like collage, an electronic whirlwind that transforms into an enchanting finale with resplendent brass and echoes, while colorful strings are plucked towards the end. "Lorca Not Orca" concludes the "Teenage Lightning" trilogy, with flamenco guitar and alien robotic voices. The title track "Love's Secret Domain" is a sinister piece that invites being listened to under the influence of psychotropic substances. Even today, this album is a small classic, a hallucinatory journey into the recesses of the human mind.