Review: Various Artists – 'How To Destroy Coil: A Tribute To Coil'

VARIOUS ARTISTS
'How To Destroy Coil: A Tribute To Coil'
TRIBULATIONS
Coil are easily one of the most influential musical acts of the past thirty years. The avant garde, experimental, often unfriendly and yet utterly compelling works of the late Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson and Johnn Balance straddled industrial, ambient, new age, techno, acid house, noise, drone and just about everything else. Using dissonance as melody their influence can continue to be felt in a myriad of acts today. It only seems fitting that on the back of their Skinny Puppy and Ministry tribute albums that tribulations turn their attention to the esoteric works of Coil.

Acts such as Kanashibari, Construct, Void Prototype, Flesh Eating Foundation, Trust Crusher, Allofher Twitch, The Cryptids and more add their twists to already twisted tracks including 'Fire Of The Mind', 'Love's Secret Domain', 'Cold Cell', 'The Sewage Worker's Birthday Party', 'Restless Day', 'Paranoid Inlay', and 'Solar Lodge'.

As with previous releases, some stick close to the source material and other's make their mark on it. Considering the huge range of Coil's work it's a shame that there are two versions of Cold Cell and Fire Of The Mind – all of which are great – but there are so many great Coil tracks it still seems like a missed opportunity. Nevertheless this is a strong collection that shifts effortlessly between the particular influences of each band and reforms the original tracks to maintain their original experimental flavours but ultimately make it their own.

As with all compilations the multiple genres and recording styles can be a nightmare for mastering but as with the previous two editions in the series this handles them with ease and manages the flow of the tracks into one satisfying experience.

Once more Tribulations and all the artists involved here deserve praise. The source material of Coil is a daunting task by any standard but the love and passion for the band is evident on every offering and ultimately compliment each other as well. This is another great outing and with the fourth in the series shaping up to be a tribute to Bile, we can expect more great music to come.

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