Coil
Time Machines

Published in 1998 for Eskaton, Time Machines by Coil immediately appeared as a bizarre chapter in their discography. The new vinyl (in various colors) and CD reissue by Dais Records (3 years after the one in 2017) confirms the importance of this work. In reality, the album was initially conceived by Drew McDowall, who recorded a demo. Subsequently, McDowall presented the material to John Balance and Peter Christopherson, who were enthusiastic about it. Time Machines is indeed a seminal album for what would be the second part of Coil's career, culminating in the masterpiece Musick To Play In The Dark. In my opinion, Coil gave their best (while recognizing the importance of albums like Scatology and Horse Rotorvator) precisely in their later incarnation, which included the mentioned McDowall and keyboardist Tighpaulsandra, where they managed to reinvent the language of Krautrock and minimalism. And Time Machines is the first chapter of this new course.

Time Machines is a drone-music album that owes much to the minimalism of La Monte Young and is divided into 4 long tracks for a duration of about 73 minutes. The sounds are based on cyclic loops generated by synths that evolve slowly and imperceptibly. All the track titles reference the names of the drugs used. On the other hand, in Love’s Secret Domain, Coil had already demonstrated their "feeling" with psychotropic substances. But as per Coil tradition, we find many esoteric references: Time Machines is actually inspired by the ceremonial music of Tibet and aims to nullify the concept of time, offering the listener an experience beyond time and space. In this sense, even the black mirror (probably a reference to the one owned by John Dee, the famous alchemist) on the cover assumes a symbolic meaning.

This is a long psychedelic trip composed under the influence of drugs and it also reminded me of Spacemen 3's Dreamweapon. If you feel like having a hypnotic and mystical experience, this album is for you. Available on Bandcamp: https://coilofficial.bandcamp.com/album/time-machines.