Album Review: Final Coil – Somnambulant II (Wormhole Death)

Throughout the last eighteen months, with the waking world cradled in the suffocating embrace of sickness and so many connections between us severed, Final Coil turned their gaze inwards. They explored their own music, reliving the moments they found there and discovering new, untaken turnings. Somnambulant II, named as a successor to the band’s experimental 2014 EP Somnambulant, is a reimagining of some of Final Coil’s most remarkable songs.

Talk about turning a negative into a positive! Final Coil have emerged to bring us an album that can simply be called ‘unique’.

When you hear a band describe re-worked tracks as re-imagined, you can’t help but wonder just how re-imagined they really are. No such issue with Final Coil’s Somnambulant II, as here we have a collection of tracks that sound almost nothing like their original counterparts did.

Corruption and Lost Hope are given a more melodramatic and touching makeover. The progressive side of the band as present as ever but the post-melodies dominating overall.

Talk about transformations though, have a listen to Waste Yr Time (Quills & Trees), a discombobulated and disconcerting version that will leave you mouth agape.

Echoes of Corruption (Zero Sum) is a short and atmospheric effort before Conviction (Industrial Slaughter) changes tact with a wacked out industrial vibe that gets a bit nastier and heavier. The meatiness of the rhythm and the haunting vocals work fantastically well together.

The unique flavour of this record makes it all the more appealing and it certainly has plenty going on to draw in those who may never have heard anything by Final Coil before. Proof of that comes from the heart-wrenching piano melody of Imaginary Trip (Still) and the groovy, lighter electronica sound of …And I’ll Leave (Outsider Mix).

An album that is way more interesting than it had any right to be.

Final Coil – Somnambulant II Full Track Listing:

1. Corruption (Shadows of a Dream)
2. Lost Hope (Trip)
3. Waste Yr Time (Quills & Trees)
4. Echoes of Corruption (Zero Sum)
5. Conviction (Industrial Slaughter)
6. Imaginary Trip (Still)
7. …And I’ll Leave (Outsider Mix)

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