Coil — Backwards
"Backwards" is somewhat of a legendary project, recorded following the classic rave record "Love's Secret Domain" in Reznor's Nothing studios in the early 90's, and never released due to legal reasons, or as Danny Hyde puts it, because of "issues with grey men". As of 2015, it has been unearthed from the personal vault of Danny Hyde, who worked on the recording, and released by Cold Spring Records. It represents a sound of Coil never heard on any other official Coil release, a more openly angry, danceable and 'industrial' sound every bit as infectious and psychedelic as the previous album 'LSD'. It represents all the most colorful and excitingly evocative elements of early 90's rave.
These songs were in fact played live at numerous Coil shows, as anyone who has seen the DVD set 'Colour Sound Oblivion' knows. The title track "Backwards" in particular was played often, mostly unchanged from this studio version, with its kinky circular beat and sing-songy, contradictory rhyming lyrics. Though it contains a few phrases that make me laugh, I enjoy the classic Balance chants of "make everything anathema!" and "false evidence appearing real".
If you're a fan of the pained, emotional side of Coil's music, you will find a lot to like on this very personal album, which is full of emotive, wailing performances from John Balance, among his most spirited and raw. It's a lot more aggressive than the balladry of "Musick to Play in the Dark", but undoubtedly more human and relatable than the alien sinkhole of "Time Machines", and doesn't take too much attention span to listen to. The songs are generally bite sized and refreshingly contrasted to each other, as on "Love's Secret Domain". If you've been waiting since 1991 for the next 'industrial' Coil album, here it is, the next and last.
I'm honestly quite surprised that there's been any backlash about the legitimacy of this release. I've heard some concern that Sleazy never wanted these versions released, being that he drastically reworked these pieces for "The New Backwards" and "The Ape of Naples", to the point of sounding so different from these as to feel like distant cousin songs at best. It seems fairly obvious that Sleazy sent somewhat mixed signals, saying at different points that he wanted the material released, but also that he was unhappy with it. Personally, I find the power of this music so immediately evident that I can't manage to feel any concern for Sleazy's creative insecurity: this is obviously one of the best Coil albums ever created, in my opinion far better than the deeply sad and emotionally draining "Ape of Naples". With both central members of Coil dead, and Danny Hyde having worked on the album all along, it makes perfect sense in my opinion for him to now let the world hear it.
There are still a couple ballads, firstly "Amber Rain", which of all songs is closest here to its eventual "Ape of Naples" version, centering around a repetitive piano and smooth, chorused vocal in both cases. "A Cold Cell" also sounds largely familiar, the primary difference being the mellotron-esque synth patch. I prefer this version to the one on "Ape of Naples", though not by much. "CopaCaballa" has a plodding, slow tempo industrial beat not dissimilar to NIN. Topped by mournful intonations Balance's somber voice, it becomes one of Coil's characteristically haunted, empty feeling numbers as well, not unlike "Paranoid Inlay" from "Musick to Play in the Dark 2".
The original version of "Heaven's Blade" is a treat for me, an upbeat ethereal breaks track which is a relic of early 90's nostalgia in its sonic similarities to Future Sound of London's "Papua New Guinea" or Meat Beat Manifesto's "Satyricon" record. By contrast to the subdued later mixes, this version is euphoric and kinetic.
"A.Y.O.R. (It's In My Blood)" is the most frighteningly aggressive and intense techno/rave song Coil ever recorded, performed to devastating effect to images of skin disease for several of the "Colour Sound Oblivion" performances. The combination of the relentless alien growl of the bass and Balance's screams, which have been obliterated into a percolating rhythmic texture, captures perfectly the manic desperation of a psychedelic overdose. I've been craving a decent quality version of this track to put in DJ sets for years now.
If this release lacks anything, it's the perfect narrative balance achieved in the track sequencing of "Love's Secret Domain". I'm not sure what order Sleazy meant for these tracks to appear, but I have a feeling he would've glued the pieces together with a few more ambient segues, and more lavish packaging. However, this is no reason not to release the material, and I can see why Danny might be hesitant to add any of his own new sounds to make the work cohesive. This would have resulted in its own backlash, though likely not from me.
If you've been listening to the blurry cassette demo circulating the internet for the last 15+ years, and are asking yourself how much better this CD could be, the answer is that it's worlds better. The crystal clear, vibrant production would be worth the price of admission alone, but there's also new material! Firstly, an "Intro" which is a swirling, panning psychedelic synth effect, the transcendental voice of a synthesizer extracted through an ordeal of manipulation, up there with the best of "Worship the Glitch". Aside from this, it's difficult to tell which tracks were on the original demo and which weren't, because the titles are different. However, the demo has 10 tracks, while this has 12. I was never one to play the demo frequently, as the lacking sound quality always irritated me. Therefore, other listeners may be more aware of subtle differences in the two versions of the album.
So, this is one of Coil's best albums ever, and I feel it could easily be the absolute best, in the eyes of some fans. The band's insecurity surrounding this material was thoroughly unwarranted. It is a deeply fascinating lost chapter. I would highly recommend it both to the most die hard fans and as an introduction to the group for those unfamiliar. It contains a perfect sampling of their talents.