THE APE OF NAPLES

I've always regarded this hugely appreciated album within Coil circles as being overrated . It's excellent in parts but for the majority is a big slice of annihilation and negativity.

A thoroughly miserable tune opens 'The Ape of Naples'. 'Fire of the Mind' is quite uninvolving, but strangely reminds me of an electronic counterpart to early 70's UK folk band 'Spirogyra' with it's whining vocals and ill humoured subject matter.

'The Last Amethyst Deceiver' opens with a super double bass sound and a cool backing track of whining electronics and xylophone which introduces a seriously upset John Balance. Lines are repeated in a monotone manner that were never used before by Coil and at times make me think that he's actually ran out of ideas for lyrics.

A nice fake accordion with weird swirling electric sounds introduce 'Tattooed Man'. To tell you the truth I can well do without the homo-erotic lyrics thank you very much.

'Triple Sun' begins in the style of their much lauded but rejected Clive Barker 'Hellraiser' soundtrack (which is a story in itself!). Being purely electronic with pulses, throbbing bass and a threatening air of menace. That is, until John Balance starts singing - where he constantly repeats the line 'I swallowed the one you buried' - it's enough to drive you mental.

One of two 'five' star recordings emerges next with 'It's in my Blood'. Big horns blast, deep and VERY filthy drum programming pave the way for a truly crazy vocal performance of shrieks and shrills. Sweeping 'Kryzystof Penderecki' strings intrude at various points and they really send shivers down the spine in a proper horror movie kind of way.

Without a doubt, the highlight on 'The Ape of naples' is 'Heaven's Blade'. A throbbing mass of irregular electronic bass thumps almost in the style of D.A.F. This lays a foundation of tense and uneasy listening. Squeaky synthetic sounds and loads of vocal deconstructions batter around your brain until you feel almost comatose. It sounds sick - almost like watching a relative die attached to a drip. Sharp, clean, disinfected and truly grotesque.

An almost Christian choirboy approach is used vocally in "Cold Cell". Once again though, it's very downbeat with grim lyrics such as 'Save us from the Death Penalty... Amen...'

An unusual version of 1991's brilliant 'Teenage Lightning' is next up. It's nice enough and almost acapella in approach. Unfortunately it doesn't carry anywhere near the same dynamism and punch it did in 'Love's Secret Domain' from '91. It's probably not supposed to but that doesn't make it any better.

'Amber Rain' continues this run of miserable electronic vibes with a vocal approach that sounds like a 'knackered speak your weight machine'

'Going Up' sound infeasibly camp - which is a facet Coil always avoided on almost all recordings. Based on the 70's UK Sit-Com 'Are You Being Served' it bears no semblance of humour - just like the series itself which was utter rubbish and always will be. An instantly forgettable piece of twaddle which I find a particularly disappointing way for Coil to bow out.

Other than the two 'meisterwerks' comprising - 'Heaven's Blade' and 'It's in My Blood' which sound like they were recorded in the deepest recesses of hell this is an entirely forgettable album. However, due to these two exceptional tracks it scrapes a "three".

This final Coil album (aside from posthumous remixes and compilations and the like), its terminal nature dictated by the death of John Balance, finds the maverick industrial pioneers in a contemplative and melancholy mood. Sure, Coil have set plenty of morbid precedent with their earlier albums, but here the industrial spikiness of prior releases has here given way to a glum electronic dark ambient mood of nostalgia and regret, with extra spice added by the inclusion of a few folky elements (without taking a hard right turn into neofolk). It's not a perfect swansong - indeed, some pieces feel more like unfinished sketches or aimless noodling - and we'll never know how it would have turned out had Balance lived to see its release, but it's far from an embarrassment.

I have never actually listened to any works of Coil. I have heard of them and I definitely seen their album covers, but I never actually listened to their albums, at least not fully. But on one day someone on Discord recommended this album to me since I liked more weird music. I thought, why not, how about I listen to something new for a change. I didn't know what to expect from the album, but I was eager to find out. One thing I have noticed with the album is that it had a very morbid and almost grief like sound to it (probably enhanced after the death of John Balance). It also has a really pretty experimental edge to it in the vocals and production value. It really feels like a album for the dead and for those beyond the grave. But the album also feels like a sort of 7 stages of grief in it's sound where some songs sound like they are sad, in denial, angry, and soon, accepting. This is definitely an interesting album and definitely one worth checking out if you like more experimental music.

As a huge fan of 80s-90s Swans, Throbbing Gristle, and Bauhaus, I'm surprised that I never gave Coil much thought before.

The instrumentation is industrial in parts (think TG's 20 Jazz Funk Greats), and in other parts reminds me of Jarboe era Swans such as Soundtracks for the Blind.

The singing style and negative lyrics feel somewhere between Throbbing Gristle, Neurosis, and Bauhaus. They are unmistakeably English in style, with little of the American drawl or low register associated with Michael Gira.

This album would have been a difficult sell back when I listened to 70s-derived prog, but it very much clicks when starting from a love of no-wave, industrial, and avant-garde.

Five stars from me - this is an instant essential within my library.