side a

1. The Sea Priestess
2. Second Son Syndrome
3. I Don't Want To be the One
4. The Avatars - [MP3]

side b

1. The Mothership and the Fatherland - [MP3]

John Balance
Peter Christopherson
Thighpaulsandra
Drew McDowell
Gary Ramon - sitar and guitar on "The Sea Priestess"

Acme/Prescription

UK

Drug 8

LP

January 1999

Unavailable

99

Part of a series of 8 releases (each by a different artist) on the Prescription imprint of Acme, a label run by Gary Ramon of the band Sundial. Like all other Prescription releases, this album was limited to 99 copies available only via subscription to the entire series. It's packaged in a plain black sleeve with a title sticker signed and numbered by Balance and Christopherson. It includes an insert with the track listing and release notes, and a piece of handmade artwork in a plastic zip-lock bag.

John Balance writes notes on the songs:

"The Avatars"
The Avatars is a title of a book by one of my favourite mystical poet /writers George Russell who was Irish. He wrote under the name A.E. which was short for AEON.He has writen some of the most inspiring and inspired prose about direct enchantment and trancendental communion with Nature. I mention him in the COIL song Bee-stings (?) when I sing "Don't believe A.E. See for yourselves the summer fields" - A plea for experiential outings, pilgrimages etc.
Get out there - Travel! It's in both the journey and the destination...

Jimmy Page once declared he believed Kenneth Anger was an Avatar. A semi-God-form , a pure particular Spirit incarnated on this earth. A view he later renounced when they fell out. I think he was right myself.

The strange sound is a Syrinx sythesiser. A very scarce beast indeed... The track was my attempt to recall vivid childhood memories of when I used to try and sneak downstairs and watch the 'Quatermass' programmes on TV through a gap in the door.

"The Mothership and The Fatherland"
An attempt to explore the cosmic connection between 'flying saucers' and Krautrockery, UFOs and LFOs. Astral Acidity - LSD being a catalyst one supposes.The resultant progeny of the marriage of the two elements results in the birth of the "little lost children" who Kate Bush is singing about for us.The end has John speaking in tounges - Insect jabber.

The whole album really was recorded originally in two days over Samhain (Halloween) in a studio located below the level of the river Thames in ancient Southwark. An area the artist Austin Osman Spare frequented and knew particularly well. The theme of water, the sea, lunar influences again figure deeply in the whole of the album.We redid some of the material at our new studio that has a view of the sea. Tidal. Vital. Lunar. Tuna. Tuner.

The inner sleeve photo portraits were taken by Peter Christopherson and John Balance of each other during the total eclipse of the sun. "See the Black Sun Rise...".

"2nd Sun Syndrome"
Loops of anguish caused by the feeling of being a second son in a family lineage. Changed from "son" on the original vinyl release. Now turned and tuned into intergalactic transmissions. Sex with Sun Ra. We have our voice-mail system linked up to SETI main computor - It searches for intelligent life in space while we sleep, in dead time.

"The Sea Priestess"
We thank Frater Purdurabo on the sleeve of the record. This is a magickal name Aleister Crowley used. It means "I will endure". A lot of the lyrics are based on Aleister crowleys own written descriptions of the so called 'obscene' murals on the walls of The Abbey Of Thelema at Cefalu in Sicily. The place still exists. Peter and I made a pilgrimage there last year and while we there discovered a lost painting on an internal door, the door to his own bedroom, the fabled "Chambre de Couchmares". It was a very roughly done Chinese style astral landscapewith waterfalls and pagodas. All what remains of the original murals rediscovered and painstakingly restoredand by Kenneth Anger in the 50's are crumbling and devastatingly beyond restoration now. I spent the day there photographing what remains, bitterly crying at the terrible loss of such a direct and beautiful magickal temple. The rest of the lyrics were written as a result of experiments with a small obsidian scrying mirror. The sub-concious surfacing. Brion Gysin would scry for hours to gain entrance into the place "where light writes in space". Whatever pollutants and poisons Manunkind pours into the seas, they too will endure.

"I don't want to be the one"
I feel like this at times. Reticent and resentful and then, in turn, scared and angry. Overpowered by what visions I have to endure. I've had visions ever since I was a child. They used to overwhelm me so much I used to fight against them. I had no context for them. Now I use them and accept them. Or try to.

"MÜÜR"
Gold, frankincense and MUUR. Balm of the sea. A joinery of MU and UR. MU being a mythical ancient landmass now lying submerged somewhere underneath the Pacific ocean . An Eastern version of Atlantis. UR meaning 'proto' and before now. At the formation of. On saying the word MUUR out loud I believe I am saying one of the first words ever forced out of the throat of man. A Proto-Mantra. The voice is my voice transformed into that of the Sea Priestess."It's the sail of the century". I am talking about the shortsighted rape and plunder and poison of the sea for commerce.

"God saved me from drowning, then kicked me to death on the beach".

"The miraculous image of sound washed ashore"

"what's His is History. What's missed is Mystery"

1. The Avatars - [MP3]
2. I Don't Want To be the One - [MP3]
3. 2nd Sun Syndrome - [MP3]
4. The Sea Priestess - [MP3]
5. The Mothership and the Fatherland - [MP3]
6. MÜ-ÜR - [MP3]

as above

Threshold House

UK

LOCI CD 14

CD

January 2000

Unavailable

The songs "The Sea Priestess," "I Don't Want to be the One," and "2nd. Sun Syndrome" have been remixed or extended.
"MU-UR" is a remix of "The Mothership and the Fatherland."

Some tones, some drones, beautiful soundscapes and even a guitar bit on here. Most unmistakably Coil, however, this is the CD release of an LP originally recorded back around Halloween 1998. The recordings took place outside Coil's studio however, and were produced in part by Gary Ramon of the Prescription label. The LPs were made in a quantity of 99 and only given to those who had subscribed to this series released on Prescription. The original recordings seemed rather different from Coil's work, almost without the absolute quality control work that Coil put into everything. Coil have rearranged the running order, reworked most of the songs, added one song, and left a couple untouched on this release - stretching the 45 minute-long LP into a 72 minute-long CD. The electro-glitchy looped bits "The Avatars" and "2nd Sun Syndrome" along with the haunting epic, "The Mothership and the Fatherland" remain almost completely untouched, while in "I Don't Want to Be The One," the song gets extended about 3 minutes, Peter's voice gets added subtly and an unrecognizable voice (could it be Thighpaulsandra?) appears in a brand new part tagged on at the end. The new track "MU-UR" sounds like altered takes from "The Mothership & the Fatherland" with the pulsing tympani, mesmerising scapes and Maggot Brain-era Funkadelic organ. Also added is a vocal whose effects echo those of "Amethyst Deceiver." Perhaps the most drastically changed tune is "The Sea Priestess," where a droney sitar has been completely removed. Beautiful choral voices are added along with brilliant droning Tibetan vocal samples. Pretty chimes paint an aural picture of the water glistening in the moonlight and the vocals are mixed much better and prominent sounding. - Jon Whitney

"Astral Disaster" was originally released in 1999 as part of a subscription only series in a ridiculously limited edition of 99 vinyl copies (I was not one of the chosen few). Now it has been re-released on CD via Threshold House with a few tracks re-done/extended/re-mixed, 1 extra track and fantastic digipack artwork by Steven Stapleton (Nurse With Wound) and photos by Coil. Unfortunately, this album still sounds unfinished to me and is no where near as enthralling as the album recorded after this one, "Music to Play in the Dark Vol. 1". "Astral.." is composed of 3 lengthy minimal pieces, 2 short synth pieces and 1 short song which further explore lunar magick. "The Avatars" and "2nd Sun Syndrome" are little more than aimless synth noodlings that aren't all that interesting in comparison to similar work from the recent past. "The Mothership & the Fatherland" is tediously long with a plodding beat, minimal synth pads, effected sounds here and there, some drifting female backing vocals and Balance quietly speaking in tongues near the end. "The Sea Priestess" features Balance's forthright spoken words over and through synths and effects with the most intriguing lyric: "if it goes any faster there will be an astral disaster." "I Don't Want to be the One" is a poorly recorded 'song' with Balance's vocals, guitar pluckings and swirling synth atmospheres ... not bad until Balance begins wailing in the final few minutes. "MU-UR" is similar to "The Mothership & the Fatherland" with the same sort of synth pads, drones and effected sounds floating about for 20+ minutes and a brief passage of Balance's vocals transformed into a female tone. All in all, this is the first time I can honestly say that I've been disappointed by a new Coil (or related) release. "The Sea Priestess" and "MU-UR" are my favorites and are really the only two that bear repeated listening. The rest of the album contains fragments of great ideas and sounds but fails to expand upon them properly to capture the 'magick' ... it simply doesn't meet Coil's usually high quality control standard. I'm surprised they bothered to re-release it on CD, especially after the release of Music to Play in the Dark Vol. 1. - Mark Weddle

side a

1. The Avatars - [MP3]
2. I Don't Want To be the One - [MP3]
3. 2nd Sun Syndrome - [MP3]
4. The Sea Priestess - [MP3]

side b

1. MÜ-ÜR - [MP3]

as above

Threshold House

UK

LOCI 14

LP

January 2000

Unavailable

1000 grey vinyl
100 red vinyl

The track listing above is the proper one, although the cover of the LP is printed with the same track listing as the CD edition. The versions are the same as the CD editon.
The sub-edition of 100 copies on red vinyl features a lyric sheet signed by Jhon Balance, Peter Christopherson and Thighpaulsandra, and a numbered original drawing signed by Jhon and Peter.