Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Coil - Unreleased Hellraiser Soundtrack (1987)

Hellraiser is a 1987 British horror film exploring the themes of sadomasochism, pain as a source of pleasure, and morality under duress and fear. It is based on the critically acclaimed novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, who also wrote the screenplay and directed the film. In the UK, the film is titled Clive Barker's Hellraiser. It is the first film in the Hellraiser series. Seven subsequent sequels followed with a remake of the first announced in 2007.
Clive Barker originally commissioned a soundtrack for Hellraiser from the industrial band Coil. The music they supplied was rejected, and Christopher Young provided a more traditional orchestral score for the finished movie. Coil's score, which was apparently described by Barker in a complimentary manner as being "bowel churning", has been released in isolation as The Unreleased Themes For Hellraiser and as part of the compilation Unnatural History II (CD) (1995).
Coil's original theme was later covered by the Italian black metal band Aborym on their debut album Kali Yuga Bizarre
The Unreleased Themes for Hellraiser (subtitled The Consequences of Raising Hell) was the fourth album that Coil released in the year 1987. The album was released on the CD, cassette and 10" vinyl. It was the proposed soundtrack to the film Hellraiser. A common misconception is that this version was deamed "too scary" to use, however in all actuality it was turned down because it was not considered commercial enough by the studio. The following quote by Cliver Barker, which was included on the album cover to the vinyl version, may have helped to perpetuate this myth: "The only group I've heard on disc whose records I've taken off because they made my bowels churn"
A-side tracks from the 10"/cassette version and all tracks from the CD version later appeared on the Unnatural History II compilation. B-side tracks from the 10"/cassette version later appeared as a single track on Unnatural History III.
This is the only release on the record label Solar Lodge, with catalog number COIL 1. The cassette version was licensed to Soleilmoon and released in 1990, with catalog number SOL 4. The cassette features a different cover than the CD and vinyl release.

10" Vinyl & Cassette Track List: Side A: "The Unreleased Themes For Hellraiser": 1. Hellraiser, 2. Box Theme, 3. Main Title.
Side B: "Music For Commercials": 1. Airline 1, 2. Liqueur, 3. Perfume, 4. Video Recorder, 5. Airline 2, 6. Natural Gas, 7. Cosmetic 1, 8. Cosmetic 2, 9. Analgesic, 10.Road Surface, 11.Accident Insurance.
CD Track List: 1. Hellraiser Themes, 2. The Hellbound Heart, 3. Box Theme, 4. No New World, 5. Attack of the Sennapods, 6. Main Title.
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