Coil had fully returned to activity under that name by the closing months of 1999 thanks to efforts like Astral Disaster and the EPs that would be collected as Moon’s Milk (In Four Phases). But they saw out the millennium in even more dramatic and commanding fashion with what rapidly became one of their most celebrated albums, Musick To Play In The Dark Vol. 1. With the lineup consisting of the Astral Disaster lineup of John Balance, Peter Christopherson, Thighpaulsandra and, in his final appearance with the group, Drew McDowall, Coil created what Balance spoke about in interviews and written notes as ‘moon musick,’ an elaboration on the drone and ambient-informed work of their recent years given a calm, chilly and quietly unsettling air. They fully draw on their long-standing interests in psychedelic experiences and ritual practices along with both old and new electronic equipment to create minimalist songs and some true spacerock trips, as on “Red Birds Will Fly Out Of The East and Destroy Paris In A Night,” while Balance’s vocals once again retain a newer air of spare, softly spoken mystery.

Coil had already gone through two distinct phases by the time this album came along. First was their aggro industrialist work in the mid 80s, then came the early 90s acid house inspired, groovier but no less twisted work on Love’s Secret Domain and the tracks that would be released as Theme From the Gay Man’s Guide to Safer Sex. By the end of the 90s, John Balance was somewhat burned out from chemical and occult exploration, and he and Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson had left London for the English countryside, had connected with modular synthesist and sometime Spiritualized member Thighpaulsandra and were making music inspired by the seasons and phases of the moon. But though the Musick here is broadly ambient, with ripples that hint back to The Orb and Steve Hillage, there’s nothing hippy-dippy about this. Balance’s improvised narratives are chilling and eerie — “are you loathsome tonight” being an early touchstone — and there is discord, imbalance and endless weirdness to the synth swoops and meandering pianos that are impossible to understand and continue to disconcert no many how many times you’ve heard them. At the same time they were working on the fearsome drone barrages that would become Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil and would soon start on the austere mindfuck hypnotism of Time Machines. Far from being a resting point after burnout, this would prove to be the start of their most potently creative and visionary streak.