Astral Disaster
Studio album by Coil
Released	1999 January
Recorded	"Samhain 1998ev"
Genre	Experimental
Length	46:08 (vinyl) 72:22 (CD)
Label	Acme/Prescription, Threshold House
Producer(s)	Coil
Coil chronology
Winter Solstice: North (1999)	Astral Disaster (1999)	Musick To Play In The Dark Vol. 1 (1999)

Astral Disaster is an album by Coil, which has been released in two distinct versions. A Studio Album is an album of regular studio recordings. ... Coil was an English cross-genre, experimental music group formed in 1982 by John Balance—later credited as Jhonn Balance—and his lover Peter Christopherson, aka Sleazy.[1] The duo worked together on a series of releases before Balance chose the name Coil, which he claimed to be inspired by... This article is about the Celtic holiday. ... Era Vulgaris redirects here. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... For experimental rock music, see experimental rock. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Official Threshold House logo Threshold House is a vanity record label created by Coil, exclusively for albums put out by the group. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Coil was an English cross-genre, experimental music group formed in 1982 by John Balance—later credited as Jhonn Balance—and his lover Peter Christopherson, aka Sleazy.[1] The duo worked together on a series of releases before Balance chose the name Coil, which he claimed to be inspired by... Coil was an English cross-genre, experimental music group formed in 1982 by John Balance—later credited as Jhonn Balance—and his lover Peter Christopherson, aka Sleazy.[1] The duo worked together on a series of releases before Balance chose the name Coil, which he claimed to be inspired by... Music sample: The Dreamer Is Still Asleep (file info) — Sample of The Dreamer Is Still Asleep, taken from the album Musick To Play In The Dark Vol. ... Coil was an English cross-genre, experimental music group formed in 1982 by John Balance—later credited as Jhonn Balance—and his lover Peter Christopherson, aka Sleazy.[1] The duo worked together on a series of releases before Balance chose the name Coil, which he claimed to be inspired by...

The original pressing of the album was released in an edition of 99 copies on 12" vinyl via the record label Acme/Prescription with catalogue number Drug 8. It was only available only to those who had subscribed to the entire Drug series, and was packaged in a plain black sleeve with a title sticker signed and numbered by Balance and Christopherson. It included an insert with the track listing and release notes, and a piece of handmade artwork in a plastic zip-lock bag.

The later pressing of this album, released on CD and 12" via the Threshold House label, is completely rebuilt and remade with much more texture than the first release. This version also includes a remake of "The Mothership & The Fatherland" titled "MÜ-ÜR". The 12" inch release was limited to 1,000 copies on gray vinyl and a special edition of 100 copies on red vinyl. The special edition includes a sheet of lyrics that is signed by Jhon Balance, Peter Christopherson and Thighpaulsandra. It also includes an original numbered drawing, which is signed by Jhon Balance and Peter Christopherson. Official Threshold House logo Threshold House is a vanity record label created by Coil, exclusively for albums put out by the group. ... John Balance (first name also spelled Jhon and Jhonn; born Geff Rushton/Geoffrey Laurence Burton; February 16, 1962 - November 13, 2004) was the founder and half of the experimental music group Coil. ... Peter Martin Christopherson, a. ... Thighpaulsandra (born Tim Lewis to retired opera singer Dorothy Lewis) is a Welsh experimental musician. ... John Balance (first name also spelled Jhon and Jhonn; born Geff Rushton/Geoffrey Laurence Burton; February 16, 1962 - November 13, 2004) was the founder and half of the experimental music group Coil. ... Peter Martin Christopherson, a. ...

Some of the more notable differences between the releases, other than the later release being more built up, is the disappearance of the sitar as well as the disappearance of the sound effect on John's voice on the original version of "The Sea Priestess".

Track listing

Acme/Prescription 12" version

Side A:

1. "The Sea Priestess" – 14:11
2. "Second Son Syndrome" – 2:47
3. "I Don't Want To Be The One" – 2:45
4. "The Avatars" – 3:21

Side B:

1. "The Mothership And The Fatherland" – 23:03

Threshold House CD version

1. "The Avatars" – 3:02
2. "The Mothership & The Fatherland" – 22:24
3. "2nd Sun Syndrome" – 4:16
4. "The Sea Priestess" – 14:10
5. "I Don't Want To Be The One" – 4:47
6. "MÜ-ÜR" – 22:40

Threshold House 12" version

Side A:

1. "The Avatars"
2. "I Don't Wan't To Be The One"
3. "2nd Sun Syndrome"
4. "The Sea Priestess"

Side B:

1. "MÜ-ÜR"

Personnel

• John Balance - lyrics, vocals, Obsidian Mirrors, Scrim Generators
  
• Peter Christopherson - Macintosh, finger symbols
  
• Drew McDowall - Moog & Thoughtforms
  
• Thighpaulsandra - Mellotron, Hammond & synths
  

with John Balance (first name also spelled Jhon and Jhonn; born Geff Rushton/Geoffrey Laurence Burton; February 16, 1962 – November 13, 2004). ... Obsidian from Lake County, Oregon Counterclockwise from top: obsidian, pumice and rhyolite (light color) Obsidian is a rock which is a type of naturally occurring glass, produced by volcanoes (igneous origin) when a felsic lava cools rapidly and freezes without sufficient time for crystal growth (see glass transition temperature). ... Peter Martin Christopherson, a. ... The Macintosh 128K, the first Macintosh computer, introduced in 1984, upgraded to a 512K Fat Mac The Macintosh, or Mac, is a line of personal computers designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed by Apple. ... Drew McDowall in 1997 with Moon, one of Coils dogs. ... Thighpaulsandra (born Tim Lewis to retired opera singer Dorothy Lewis) is a Welsh experimental musician. ... Mellotron MK II The Mellotron is an electromechanical polyphonic keyboard musical instrument originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. ... Hammond is a family name that has also been given to several places in the United States of America and elsewhere. ... The term synthesiser is also used to mean frequency synthesiser, an electronic system found in communications. ...

• Gary Ramon - guitar on "I Don't Want to be the One"

Sun Dial (occasionally spelled Sundial) is a British psychedelic rock band formed in 1990 by Gary Ramon. ...

Notes

• The inner sleeve photo portraits were taken by Peter Christopherson and John Balance of each other during the total eclipse of the sun.
• The album is mainly themed on mankind's pollution of the seas for commerce, as exemplified by the lyrics to "MÜ-ÜR". The majority of the album was recorded in an area below the level of the Thames River.
• "The Avatars" was made with a Syrinx sythesiser, and was John Balance's attempt to recreate memories of sneaking through his house at night to watch [[Bernard Quatermass] series on television. The title of the song comes from a book by George Russell.
• "Second Son Syndrome" was purposely renamed "2nd Sun Syndrome" on reissue.
• Most of the lyrics to "The Sea Priestess" were based on Aleister Crowley's descriptions of the murals on the walls of the Abbey of Thelema at Cefalu in Sicily.