Form Grows Rampant

Released

The Coilverse is vast so it is not a shock that this 2007 entry from Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson is usually overlooked. Christopherson spent his final years in Thailand and this music is related to that experience, though it’s not in any particular mode of Thai music. The DVD that accompanies the album (including some fairly hectic self-mutilation) was filmed in Southern Thailand and is as echt as it gets, but the vocals are actually all computer-generated. You could easily mistake this for a field recording project—it’s not. It’s all coming out of Sleazy’s head and it’s unique. That lovely bassline-plus-strange-thing that Coil do so well appears here in one of its finest manifestations. Is a demon child serenading you? Are those real bells? Form Grows Rampant morphs through five parts, each one a different pairing of digital voice madness and stately bass. There are real drums to speak of here, which is such a killer move. I find this insanely addictive and, like many Sleazy productions, there are many small details to hypnotize you and make the time fly.

Sasha Frere-Jones