1982–1983: Formation and early years In 1978, John Balance (born Geoff[rey] Burton; also known as Rushton, his stepfather's surname) was a teenage zine journalist, writing—along with his schoolmate Tom Craig, a grandson of
Edward Carrick and great-grandson of
Edward Gordon Craig—under a moniker
Stabmental, through which he published articles on UK underground artists, including seminal
industrial bands Throbbing Gristle and
Cabaret Voltaire. A Throbbing Gristle fan, Balance had contacted them via mail, and thus befriended the Throbbing Gristle frontperson
Genesis P-Orridge. In February 1980, Balance had attended a Throbbing Gristle gig recorded and released as
Heathen Earth, where he had first met P-Orridge's bandmate
Peter Christopherson and befriended him as well. Following the dissolution of Throbbing Gristle in 1981, P-Orridge, Christopherson, and
Alex Fergusson (formerly of
Alternative TV) went on to form the new project, titled
Psychic TV, along with the accompanying fellowship titled
Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth. Balance, who had attended the
University of Sussex for a short time and participated in Brian Williams'
Lustmord project, As a Psychic TV member, Balance participated in the recording of the single "Just Drifting" (from the album
Force the Hand of Chance) and, the following year, of the album
Dreams Less Sweet. Already having an experience of performing and recording previous to his tenure in Psychic TV, Balance went on to use the name Coil in 1982, originally envisioned for a solo project. In 1983, Balance wrote a manifesto titled
The Price of Existence Is Eternal Warfare and sent a tape of the song "On Balance", dated 5 May 1982, to Gary Levermore's label
Third Mind Records for an inclusion on a compilation album
Rising From The Red Sand; Levermore, however, had rejected the track. Despite this, Balance had recorded three more new tracks—"S for Sleep", "Red Weather", and "Here to Here (Double-Headed Secret)"—on 11 May 1983. On 4 August 1983, Coil—as the duo of Balance and Christopherson—had played its first gig in London at the Magenta Club, during a screening of films by
Cerith Wyn Evans and
Derek Jarman. Since Christopherson's commitments for Psychic TV—in which he had become disillusioned due to growing conflict with P-Orridge—still limited his participation in Coil, Balance approached
John Gosling—also Psychic TV member who fronted his own project
Zos Kia—to work with. Balance's and Gosling's collaboration resulted in the next three gigs during 1983, with the last one being performed in December on Berlin Atonal festival, where Balance participated as both Psychic TV and Coil member. The recordings from aforementioned gigs, as well as "On Balance", were later included on Zos Kia/Coil split album
Transparent, released in February 1984 by Austrian label Nekrophile Records. Since January 1984, Balance and Christopherson had departed from Psychic TV and the Temple of Psychic Youth, in order to make Coil as a full-time concern.
1984–1986: How to Destroy Angels and Some Bizzare years The band's official recording debut, an extended play titled
How to Destroy Angels, was released on the
Good Friday (20 April) of 1984 by a Belgian-based label L.A.Y.L.A.H. Antirecords. Recorded on 19 February 1984 at Britannia Row Studios, the album was dedicated to
Mars as the god of spring and war, using predominantly iron and steel instruments. Shortly after in May 1984, Coil went on to record their first full-length studio album, eventually titled
Scatology, approaching
JG Thirlwell as a co-producer and co-composer; several others contributors, including
Stephen Thrower, Alex Fergusson and
Gavin Friday, took part in its recording.
Scatology's themes echoed those of
How to Destroy Angels, while focusing mainly on alchemy as an idea of transforming matter.
Scatology was released in early 1985 with a 1984 copyright date by the band's own label, Force & Form, and K.422 (a
Some Bizzare Records sublabel), to mainly positive feedback. Shortly after, a single featuring a remix of "
Panic" and a cover of "
Tainted Love" was released, with the profits being donated to the
Terrence Higgins Trust; hailed since then as the first AIDS benefit music release, it was supported with the "Tainted Love" video directed by Christopherson, which was purchased by
The Museum of Modern Art in New York, U.S. The artwork features a photograph of the location of a notorious
IRA bombing, in which a bomb was detonated on a military orchestra pavilion. Furthermore, the song "Ostia (The Death of Pasolini)" is about the mysterious death of
Pier Paolo Pasolini, as well as what Balance described as "the number one suicide spot in the world", the
white cliffs of Dover.
Gold Is the Metal... and Unnatural History (1986–1990) After the release of
Horse Rotorvator, Coil left Some Bizzare Records, since they fell out with its owner
Stevo Pearce.
Gold Is the Metal (With the Broadest Shoulders) followed as a full-length release in 1987, marking the beginning of the band's own label,
Threshold House—the album is described in the liner notes as "not the follow-up to
Horse Rotorvator, but a completely separate package – a stopgap and a breathing space – the space between two twins", which refers to
Horse Rotorvator and ''Love's Secret Domain''. The 13-track
Unnatural History compilation was then released on Threshold House in 1990. The first three songs on the album were first released as one half of the
Nightmare Culture mini-album.
''Love's Secret Domain'' (1991–1992) ''Love's Secret Domain
(abbreviated LSD
) followed in 1991 as the next "proper" Coil album, although a few minor releases had been produced since Horse Rotorvator
. LSD'' represents a progression in Coil's style and became a template for what would be representative of
newer waves of post-industrial music, blended with their own style of
acid house. Although the album was more upbeat, it was not intended as a dance record, as Christopherson explained "I wouldn't say it's a party atmosphere, but it's more positive." "
Windowpane" and a
Jack Dangers remix of "
The Snow" were released as singles, both of which had music videos directed by Christopherson. The video for "Windowpane" was shot in the
Golden Triangle, where, Balance claimed, "the original Thai and Burmese drug barons used to exchange opium for gold bars with the CIA."
Stolen & Contaminated Songs followed as a full-length release in 1992. However, as with
Gold Is the Metal..., it is a collection of outtakes and demos from the
LSD era. Also in 1992, Threshold House released a "
Remixes And Re-Recordings" version of
How to Destroy Angels.
Nurse with Wound's
Steven Stapleton contributed a remix of the song, "How To Destroy Angels II". In 1993, Coil contributed music to
Derek Jarman's film
Blue. Their 1985 score for Jarman's
The Angelic Conversation was released on CD in 1994. In 1995, Coil and
Lee Ranaldo created the original soundtrack for
Todd Verow's
Frisk, an adaptation of
Dennis Cooper's
novel of the same name. In addition, they recorded soundtracks for the documentary ''
Gay Man's Guide to Safer Sex as well as Sarah Dales Sensuous Massage''. Much like the pre-Coil aliases, Coil's series of side projects represented a diverse basis from which the group evolved a different style of sound. While
Nasa Arab—credited to the group's project "The Eskaton"—was Coil's farewell to the acid house genre, the following projects,
ELpH,
Black Light District, and
Time Machines, were all based heavily on experimentation with
drone, an ingredient that would define Coil's following work. These releases also launched the start of Coil's new label
Eskaton.
Transparent was reissued in CD format in 1997 on Threshold House. A disc and booklet were packaged in a "thick" slipcase, which was released in partnership with the World Serpent music company.
Late Coil (1998–2004) After the wave of experimental side projects, Coil's sound was completely redefined. Before releasing new material, the group released the compilations
Unnatural History II,
Windowpane & The Snow and
Unnatural History III. In March 1998, Coil began to release a series of four singles which were timed to coincide with the
equinox and
solstices of that year. The singles are characterized by slow, drone-like instrumental rhythms, and electronic or orchestral instrumentation. The first single, ''
Spring Equinox: Moon's Milk or Under an Unquiet Skull, featured two versions of the same song, the second version of which included an electric viola contribution from a newly inducted member, William Breeze. The second single, Summer Solstice: Bee Stings'', also featured performances by Breeze, and also included the
industrial-
noise song "A Warning from the Sun (For Fritz)", which was dedicated to a friend of Balance and Christopherson's who had committed suicide earlier that year. The third single,
Autumn Equinox: Amethyst Deceivers, includes the track "Rosa Decidua", which features vocals by
Rose McDowall. The single also features the song "Amethyst Deceivers", later reworked and performed throughout most of Coil's tour—it was eventually re-made into an alternate version on the LP
The Ape of Naples. The fourth single,
Winter Solstice: North, also includes a track sung by McDowall, and is partially credited to the side project
Rosa Mundi. The series would later be re-released as the double-CD set, ''
Moon's Milk (In Four Phases)''.
Astral Disaster was created with the assistance from new band member
Thighpaulsandra, and was released in January 1999 via Sun Dial member
Gary Ramon's label, Prescription. Although the album was initially limited to just 99 copies, it would later be re-released in a substantially different form.
Musick To Play In The Dark Vol. 1 followed in September 1999, and a few months later Coil performed their first concert in 16 years. In 2025 the label Infinite Fog released Astral Disaster (The Definitive Edition) in various formats.
Queens Of The Circulating Library followed in April 2000, with production credit given to Thighpaulsandra. The single-track, full-length drone album is the only Coil release made without the assistance of Christopherson.
Musick To Play In The Dark Vol. 2 followed in September 2000, and Coil began to perform live more intensively, a period that also included writing the music for
Black Antlers in between a series of mini-tours. Coil also released a series of live albums around this time.
Constant Shallowness Leads To Evil, a
noise-driven experimental album reminiscent of Christopherson's work with Throbbing Gristle, was first sold at a live performance in September 2000. Coil finally released
Black Antlers in June 2004. In contrast to many of their earlier releases, Coil's later material is characterized by a slower sound which relies more on drone than acid house. This change in sound was reflected in their live performances, as songs like "Ostia" and "Slur" were slowed down from their original pace, as well as re-recordings of "Teenage Lightning" and "Amethyst Deceivers" that were later released on
The Ape Of Naples. The suits would later be used as album covers for the release
Live One, while other costumes appear on the covers of
Live Two and
Live Three—straitjacket and mirror-chested hooded jumpsuit, respectively. Video screens projected footage and animations created by Christopherson, while fog machines created an eerie atmosphere. Balance would often screech and howl during performances, which would add to the effect. The band's performance at the 2003
All Tomorrow's Parties festival was released as
...And the Ambulance Died in His Arms. Released on Threshold House in 2005 as a digipak, a Thai version was released the following year.
...And the Ambulance Died in His Arms was released under a name chosen by Balance before his death in November 2004. Many Coil performances were released, including the widely available releases of
Live Four,
Live Three,
Live Two,
Live One and
...And The Ambulance Died In His Arms, as well as several very limited editions, such as
Selvaggina, Go Back Into The Woods and
Megalithomania!. Video recordings of several concerts were released on the DVD box set,
Colour Sound Oblivion, in 2010. Coil's final performance was on 23 October 2004, at DEAF (Dublin Electronic Arts Festival), Dublin City Hall in
Ireland.
Deaths of Balance and Christopherson Balance died on 13 November 2004, after he fell from a second-floor landing in his home. Christopherson announced Balance's death on the Threshold House website, and provided details of the circumstances of the death. Balance's memorial service was held near Bristol on 23 November 2004, and was attended by approximately 100 people. The final studio album,
The Ape of Naples, was released on 2 December 2005. In August 2006, the rare CD-R releases
The Remote Viewer and
Black Antlers were "sympathetically remastered" and expanded into two-disc versions, which included new and recently remixed material. A comprehensive 16-DVD boxset, titled
Colour Sound Oblivion, was released in July 2010. A "Patron Edition" was pre-orderable in November 2009 and sold out in three hours. Christopherson also discussed the possibility of releasing Coil's entire back catalogue on a single
Blu-ray disc. In November 2006, the official Coil website posted the following announcement: "Following the success of Thai pressings of
The Remote Viewer and
Black Antlers, and after many requests, we are planning to expand the CD catalog still further." A few days later
Duplais Balance and ''Moon's Milk in Six Phases
were announced. Furthermore, an expanded vinyl version of The Ape of Naples
, which includes the album The New Backwards, has been released, and a two-disc version of Time Machines'' has been announced. ==Artistry==