AUTUMN EQUINOX: AMETHYST DECEIVERS

This is the 3rd EP in a series of EPs based on the 4 seasons by Coil. It was released on the Autumnal equinox in 1988 which was fitting of course. Coil was an experimental and mostly electronic duo that has released quite a few albums and have also worked with many artists like Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails doing remixes. Their music is typically quite dark and unsettling.

It starts off with a short track called 'Regel' which is made up of strange electronic noises and vocals that are a combination of singing and high pitched calling. This ends quickly and goes to 'Rosa Decidua'. This one is very atmospheric with synthesized keyboards (organ and etc.) and a nice female voice, guest vocalist Rose McDowall from Strawberry Switchblade, singing from what sounds like a distance. Soon a poetic reading starts while all of this is going on. This is a nice track with a lot of depth. There is also a nice tenor voice from Robert Lee from 'Sorrow', another guest vocalist, singing in counterpoint.

'Switches' starts out with an echoing, ambient drone. Soon, electronic noises and pulses come in, making some very interesting and captivating noises. This one is really unsettling when listening through headphones and can really scare the flibindigibits out of you. Make sure you at least have a good stereo set up to get the real effect of this track. This track really shows the ingenuity of Coil, and is worth getting the EP for. Simply amazing.

'The Auto-Asphyxiating Hierophont' is a more majestic sounding track, yet it is still quite unsettling. It is also more melodic, but in a very discordant way. There are processed, chanted vocals here, which sounds like a male and female doing a reading at the same time. While this is going on, there are strings and a thumping percussive noise playing along. Again, this is very spooky and unsettling. At the end this is all replaced by electronic noises before the strings come back in again without percussion or voices.

'Amethyst Deceivers' is the last track on the EP. There are again electronic effects with an electric harp and guitar/bass playing while more chanting is going on by McDowall. Additional voices are layered in later.

This is a very beautiful addition to the Season EP cycle. It is very ritualistic sounding, and gives one the feeling of an old folk/pagen folk music and chanting but feeling very up to date with the orchestration and instrumentation. This is one EP that is worth searching for, especially if you like this style of old ritualistic folk. When combined with the entire song cycle, this is an amazing work, but alone as it is on this EP, the biggest drawback is you wish it was longer. However, I can easily give this one 5 stars as it is the strongest EP in the cycle. You can also find the entire cycle on the release 'Moon's Milk (in Four Phases)'. This is the way I would recommend getting these 4 EPs for those that are curious.