Industrial is a rare genre. You really can do anything you and it's still considered Industrial, because that's what it is. It's experimental music.
When most casual music fans here Industrial they picture Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, and maybe even Tool. Well, I don't know where a lot of people group Tool into Industrial, seeing as they are Progressive, but Nine Inch Nail
ARE industrial. A lot of Industrial snobs hate the music that started us in this genre, and it's not hard to tell why. To truly enjoy Industrial, you must be a patient and risk-taking listener. "Real" industrial is possibly the least accessible genre on the planet. So many odd tape loops, shrieking, grinding, and cold/lifeless music is truly odd, but beautiful in so many ways.
Enter Coil: Not quite the difficult to listen to 1st Generation of Industrial such as Nurse With Wound and Throbbing Gristle. But not the polished, mastered, so easily accessible a 5 year old could appreciate it Industrial of the mid 90's. Coil is part of the connection between old and new school. They are old school, but they paved the why for so many future artists. Out of all of the coil albums, Horse Rotorvator is generally considered the band's Holy Grail.
The album is so harsh and destructive, yet very emotional and touching. This is because of lead singer Jhonn Balance, who combines harsh industrial noise with a great voice.
The album's leading track
The Anal Staircase Starts out chaotic and let's you know that this won't be a happy album. Though the name is a bit silly, the song couldn't be more serious. The song contains random samples of children shouting and laughing, with a slightly funky synth, while Jhonn gives extremely dark lyrics:
"
Take a hollow point revolver.
Right down the rapids of your heart.
Blow the fucking thing apart
Blow the fucking thing apart"
Even the most depressing albums have a glimmer of hope that briefly takes the listeners away from misery, but not Horse Rotorvator. The closest thing to serene music are the 2 Interludes.
Babylero Features a child singing in a different language.
Herald features a marching band playing sort in a dark and almost bad way. What it has to do with the rest of the album, I have no clue, but the mysteriousness of this album is the best part.
Most of the album is a dark, cold look inside a tortured soul, but
Circles Of Mania is flat out Jhonn Balance going completely crazy, and it's great. Jhonn repeatedly chants "
You get eaten alive by the perfect lover" and breaks into a believable psychotic laughter. Eventually Jhonn talks about "Fu
cking the ground" and proceeds to break into a maniacal orgasm, and eventually just starts making monkey noises. It is really unlike anything you've heard before.
Ravenous is an instrumental track that has lots of descriptive sounds. Such as gates creaking, and what sounds like panicked running through grass, all behind a dark piece of music.
The Golden Section features a man describing the angel of death, though there is no singing and only talking, it is still a great listen, the describes in detail facts about the angel of death, to blaring horns, and low chants.
Slur seems like it could be a single if it wanted to. It is very catchy. With constant pounding percussion and middle eastern sounding horns. It is the most accessible songs on the album. While
Who By Fire is a Leonard Cohen cover, Who has made a career out of getting out staged on his own song (Cough *Jeff Buckley*Cough). The song contains some really great lyrics:
"
And who by fire, who by water,
Who in the sunshine, who in the night time,
Who by high ordeal, who by common trial,
Who in your merry merry month of may,
Who by very slow decay,
And who shall I say is calling? "
Penetralia is easily the most traditional Industrial song on the album. Harsh guitar, loud noises, destruction. If you like industrial, you should like this song. The song is yet another classic instrumental. Even though Coil's intrumentals are fantastic, Jhonn's lyrics are what make Coil legendary. Take
Blood From The Air, in which Jhonn doesn't even sing, accompanied by a dark a depressing soundscape with screaming and moaning children. he speaks very dark lyrics in a cold tone:
"
The world is in pain and should be put down and God is a sadist and that he knows it."
"
Everything Changes, And Everyone Dies"
Though Horse Rotorvator is filled with masterpiece songs, and though if this were a Track By Track, no song would get below a 4.5, the best song couldn't be more obvious.
Ostia (The Death Of Pasolini) which is about the death of Pier Paolo Pasolini, a very controversial Italian filmmaker, author, and philosopher. Who was killed in Ostia, a city in Rome by a Gay prostitute. The song has such beautiful Violin work and really depressing and descriptive singing by Jhonn. Maybe the most beautifully sad song ever made.
The album ends with
The First Five Minutes After Death. An instrumental that sums up the album. Cold, Dramatic, and Hopeless. With blaring horns, screeches, and instrument work that sounds like well, the first few minutes after death. It's like the last person in the apocalypse dying and looking on at all of the destruction before he moves on to the after life
Horse Rotorvator is peaceful for one second, it is without question the most hopeless music I have heard, and what makes it good is that the depression is believable, Jhonn Balance was a man with struggles as you can see in his music. Death was always a constant subject in his songs. Since his death in November of 2004 caused by falling off of the balcony of his house while drunk, his work seems even more hopeless. Horse Rotorvator was a sad piece of music, and a beautiful one as well.
Pros
Great Lyrics
Dark, Well Produced Music
Consistently Great Songs
Jhonn Balance's Vocals
Cons
Honestly, the only con would be. The album could be too depressing for some. If you are considering suicide or are really down on your luck, I would suggest not listening to this. It is easily more sad than anything else I've heard.
Recommended Tracks
Ostia (The Death Of Pasolini)
Slur
Circles Of Mania
5/5
