Deaths of John Balance & Peter Christopherson
John Balance died on 13 November 2004 after having fallen from a second floor landing in his home. Peter Christopherson announced Balance's death on the Threshold House website and provided details surrounding the tragedy. Balance's memorial service was held near Bristol on November 23 and was attended by approximately 100 people. On 25 November 2004 Christopherson announced he was in agreement with Balance's partner, Ian Johnstone, that any releases, either as Coil or solo work that Balance was working on at the time of his death, would be put on hold. They decided that time was needed to mourn Balance's passing, recuperate from the loss, and assess the quality of the unreleased work. It was also decided that existing video, audio and other works that were in various states of completion at the time of Balance's death would eventually be released under the name Coil, and all other planned appearances and releases would be canceled. The already-planned live album ...And The Ambulance Died In His Arms was released in April 2005, the name having been chosen by Balance before his death.
Several tribute albums were released in memory of Balance including the compilations Full Cold Moon, The Loneliest Link In A Very Strange Chain (which had been started before Balance passed and was originally due to be called "Never", but switched titles after the tragic event), Coilectif: In memory ov John Balance and homage to Coil, ...It Just Is and X-Rated: The Dark Files. The album How He Loved The Moon (Moonsongs For Jhonn Balance) by Balance collaborator David Tibet was released under his group Current 93. A live album by Throbbing Gristle was also dedicated to Balance. On 23 December 2005, a memorial concert was held for Balance. Performers included Christopherson's new solo effort The Threshold HouseBoy's Choir, Alec Empire and CoH.
The final studio album, The Ape of Naples, saw release on 2 December 2005. In August 2006 the rare CD-R releases The Remote Viewer and Black Antlers were "sympathetically remastered" and expanded into two disc versions, which included new and recently remixed material. A comprehensive 16-DVD boxset, titled Colour Sound Oblivion was released in July 2010. A "Patron Edition" was pre-orderable in November 2009 and was sold out in three hours. Christopherson had also discussed the possibility of releasing Coil's entire back catalogue on a single Blu-ray disc.
In November 2006, the official Coil website posted the following announcement: "Following the success of Thai pressings of The Remote Viewer and Black Antlers, and after many requests, we are planning to expand the CD catalog still further." A few days later Duplais Balance and Moon's Milk In Six Phases were announced. Furthermore, an expanded vinyl version of The Ape Of Naples, which includes the album The New Backwards has been released and a two disc version of Time Machines has been announced.
Six years after the death of John Balance, Peter Christopherson died in his sleep on November 24, 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand. Christopherson's cremation adhered to Thai Buddhist tradition and his remains were scattered in the Sattahip River, Bangkok.
Read more about this topic: Coil (band)
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