I listened to the disc with headphones and I did not notice any type of distortion, nor on the D side.Some horrible pressing have appears in the market in the last years but this is OK

''Probably no more than about 10 of these were pressed'', and already 31 people have it.

Since everyone else is taking liberties with Coil's music, I'm going to go ahead change the file name of "Be Careful What You Wish For" back to the name it was called in every other incarnation of this material while Jhon & Peter were around back to - ELVESI like that much better and it's what the track actually sounds like to me...devious little elves!Also I must say, the art work for this is real shame considering the effort Coil put into their packaging etc.. Definitely shows a laziness and lack of care by those who put this out. I guess that's how it is when you're just looking for a quick cash grab and just want to rush out there with very little thought. To be honest I hope there's no further supposed releases under the name Coil. Jhonn (Geff) and Peter were THE ONLY people sanctioned to release music under the name Coil but somehow there is still material surfacing? I for one have no way of knowing if any of this stuff is really the work they did or just thrown together by other people close to Coil looking to cash in on their name. This goes for "Time Machines II" Backwards [2015]", "Electric Sewer Age I, II", "Unreleased NIN remixes". Fo me, those releases will always live in a separate grey area as to the uncertainty of their authenticity. No offense to Danny Hyde and whoever organized the release of TMII...just saying.

Happy to say my copy just arrived. No distortion on side D. High quality set.

The only things I don't like about this release are external to the music. However it was said, that it is the final order of tracks, it seems to me very chaotic (in a bad way). Minor changes like replacing Amber Rain with AYOR give this album much more fluency. It looks like story then. Story about a man who saw the strangest things which should not be seen by human eyes and now they're burning him from the inside.

I haven't listened to my vinyl copy of this so I can't chime in on the distortion conversation.I do appreciate the very late released of this album although to me it hasn't aged well (but I also think the same or House Rotorvator, so my opinion may not mean much!). The track Backwards itself while being a wonderful piece of Coil is also a great example of the anachronism of mid nineties industrial dance music. I've never really considered Coil an industrial dance band (they are so unlike Ministry, KMFDM, etc...) but this particular piece seems to place them into that genre. Perhaps it was the zeitgeist...Heaven's Blade me has always been the Greek of the Backwards sessions and the version here is one of Clio's pop masterpieces.What disappointed me the most about these mixes was the complete disappearance of Mick Harris's drums. Were they actually removed and replaced with tinny drum machines on this supposed final mix? Or were they removed later? To me the Dutch radio version of Spastiche sounds so much more in line with the whole of Coil's back catalogue that the absence of the live drums here makes no sense. But what do I know? Nothing...

I suppose I could have chosen my words better and thank you for contributing to a conversation. I would beg to differ with your opinion though. Many electronic music album's reflect the time in which they were recorded more MORE than rock albums. While there have been several changes in recording technology (especially since the digital revolution!) refinements in guitar and microphone tech have nothing on the bar changes in samplers and synth technology in just the last thirty. I don't really care to argue about this, I just brought it up because I felt a bit insulted by your comment; which I hope was in jest.All this being said, what do you think of the absence of Mick Harris' drums on this version of Spastiche?

Horse Rotorvator has aged very well, I still listen to that album all the time. So yes you're correct in thinking your opinion has no validity or credibility. I find that nowadays, that phrase "hasn't aged well" is thrown around an awful lot. Music as original and unique as this is timeless. In fact most music is when you get down to it. IMO the music that people often refer to as timeless such as classic rock etc...actually very much has the sound of the time era it was made in. Electronic based music on the other hand has a lot less indicators of when it was made and thus making it much more "timeless" -at least to me.

The sentence, "Heaven's Blade me has always been the Greek of the Backwards sessions and the version here is one of Clio's pop masterpieces." should read, "Heaven's Blade to me has always been the gem of the Backwards sessions and the version here is one of Coil's pop masterpieces." Autocorrect, sigh....

No distrotion on the D-side from my personal copie. The entire 2xLP sounds perfectly. The rest, to me, is the traditional argument, when "everyone" died in a band, that "new" sound sources emerge from the past. That said, it's interesting, specially 'bout Coil, who appears to be the dark master-class to shine in some of the business and cultural environments.

Had two plays of the vinyl now, transfer and cut seem to be very good, no distortion on Side D that I can hear, and I have a stellar turntable setup!

No idea, as my copy is very good. I didn't cut or press the vinyl, just did the pre-mastering.

Hello Greg, my "Cold Cell" is terrible, can you tell me what might have been wrong. Great to have it anyway.

yes, side D has distortion on the first track and i don´t think that pick ups set up have nothing to do here.could be a factory error but it will be the first time i see something like that.i would say that it´s a mastering error and it was originally on the test pressing and nobody cared about it. being so hurry when releasing a record isn´t a good thing.so much reports of distorted copies, noticeably on "A Cold Cell"but of side D. this is not a matter of the manufacturation of some copies. this has to be a matter of the mastering, and test pressing has to sound like that. you have to check it carefully to realize it. i would say that people that say that they don´t hear distortion on "A cold cell" just don´t have listening to it carefully and with headphones, for example.a lot of questions to consider.... will "cold spring" correct it in the next re-presses? in fact everyone who got the vinyl throgh them should be asking for their money back. 23 pounds + postage for a poorly pressed record like this???sadly, people isn´t too demanding about new vinyl presses quality.

I got my vinyl copy yesterday, no distortion on side D, but a few little static crackles that I have yet to determine are "hard wired" into the vinyl, or just the occasional expected vinyl crackle.

I just received a replacement copy of the second record from Cold Spring. The replacement copy is from the 2nd pressing of the record but unfortunately the distortion on "A Cold Cell" is still present.

I listened again, and I hear only the slightest bit of surface noise type static, on only a few instances of "A Cold Cell". This is not something I'd describe as "distortion". On the rare occasions I've had vinyl pressed, one time they said "electro static" is known to happen in the pressing process. This could mean, from what I understand, that it is not on all copies of the vinyl, but on some, and probably more likely to happen if they tried to press too many copies from the same set of stampers. What I heard is not much to complain about, but I think it could be worse on other copies.

Has anybody gotten any feedback from Cold Spring about this issue so far?

Sad to hear that so many people seem to be complaining about side D. I am STILL waiting for my vinyl copy, and never received a test pressing, or I would have caught it (I have a very nice TT setup here and was the mastering engineer on the release). I didn't cut the vinyl though, so it's nothing to do with me (if you listen to the digital files you'll hear there is no distortion). I asked many times to be sent a test pressing from Cold Spring but never received one. :(

Great album, and totally agree with Gruener Tee. Am personally always excited + skeptical when it comes to Coil. But no matter what, their music and sound is like nothing else. Its always a rewarding listening journey, as they are so unique.Sad this first pressing has a distorted D side - at least my copy has which is sad. But stil. What a piece of music this album is. Even if not a big fan, I always buy a Coil recording, as I can listen, learn, be surprised, discover new. This is for me, what great music is all about. Coil is always inspirational to listen to

pgspecialagent Great album, and totally agree with Gruener Tee. Am personally always excited + skeptical when it comes to Coil. But no matter what, their music and sound is like nothing else. Its always a rewarding listening journey, as they are so unique.Sad this first pressing has a distorted D side - at least my copy has which is sad. But stil. What a piece of music this album is. Even if not a big fan, I always buy a Coil recording, as I can listen, learn, be surprised, discover new. This is for me, what great music is all about. Coil is always inspirational to listen to Yes the vinyl copy I purchased also has a destortion on side D first track a cold cell and track two fire of the mind has a repeated click in the recording upon a close inspection as well.

How limited is the first pressing ? 500 ?Thx

Interesting versions for those who are familar with the work of coil. But only a minor footstep in the history of coil i guess. Besides the discussion on the "official" status of this release, its still a great opportunity for people new to coil to get them on vinyl ...without having to pay inflationary prices or get those aweful sounding russian pressings.

Interview about the mastering process on Backwards: http://darkfloor.co.uk/backwards-with-coil-context/

Am I the only one who has got a copy with a heavily distorted D-side?

Nearly 30 years in business and still not capable packing records properly. Classic!

haha, wanna trade?

My copy has some distortion on side D as well, but only in the first track (A Cold Cell) in a few spots. Could be that some cart/turntable set ups pick it up to varying degrees more than others.

MIne did, but only the first track on side D.

My copy doesn't have a distorted side. It did arrive with the gatefold was severely creased. They gave me a refund and eventually sent me a new gatefold. I've had problems with Cold Spring before, but they have resolved them.