An opening with Coil's "Unreleased Themes for Hellraiser" (1987)

(The Consequences of Raising Hell)

Dear Sir, Dear Lady,

I thought there could be no better film score to start this blog with than themes for Clive Barker's Hellraiser, composed by industrial/experimental group Coil. Paradoxically, never used in the movie. A music conceived for a horror film, disapproved (though not by the director), unknown to the horror viewers. How absurd it that?

So the story goes that Barker was an acquaintance to John Balance and Peter Christopherson (a.k.a. COIL) in the early 1980s and also that he was inspired to write The Hellbound Heart (short story which would eventually become the basis for Hellraiser movie) by some literature and art he had found in their house. It is common to associate Pinhead's draft with the bodypiercing magazines Balance and Christopherson used to own. But there's much more to it: not only piercing and body modifications, but the sole idea of extreme sadomasochism that underlies Hellraiser's horror somehow links Barker with the post-industrial music scene, where sex, death, blood, power and rebirth are shared obsessions of at least a considerable number of it's artists. And you'll find them as a driving force behind many of Coil's albums...

But going back to the facts: Barker did invited musicians to write the soundtrack to his movie. Meanwhile, Hollywood got involved and finding original footage too extreme ended up in changing the location to USA, dubbing all the actors, removing explicit sex scenes and turning to Christopher Young as the soundtrack composer, thus rejecting Balance and Christopherson's work.

Here's a taste of it:

Coil released their tracks as their fourth album in 1987, within their own Solar Lodge label (it remained it's one and only release). 10'' vinyl contained withdrawn Hellraiser themes on side A (Hellraiser, Box Theme, Main Title) and music composed for various commercials on side B. A year later cassette version (titled The Consequences of Raising Hell) was released in the USA by Soleilmoon Recording. Tracklist remained the same, but the music differed from the vinyl version, it was much slower, probably 16 rpm. In 1990, CD version was released by Torso Records, featuring Hellraiser themes from the vinyl and three previously unreleased track from the same session.

For those familiar with Coil's music, maybe this'll be an occasion to turn to horror cinema. For any horror maniac - to discover one of the most prominent groups in the history of electronic music.

You can download CD version HERE (mp3 320kbp/s).

Tracklist:

1. Hellraiser Theme
2. The Hellbound Heart
3. Box Theme
4. No New World
5. Attack of the Senapods
6. Main Title

Links you might find interesting:
An interview Coil gave to Compulsion magazine in 1992. You'll find some answers concerning Clive Barker and his Hellraiser at the beginning of it.
The Hellbound Heart audiobook read by C. Barker: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

Have a good night.