Serenity Is the Devil

Imagine an electronic industrial act putting together a release that was a collection of songs, each and every one carefully constructed to be destined for a dancefloor. Full electro sounds, driving beats, and most tracks with the beats-per-minute turned up. That release is Serenity Is the Devil. Icon of Coil has distilled the dance industrial experience with this release, in ways that peers such as Apoptygma Bezerk and Convenant have not before. Each track drives its way forward, through tracks destined for club longevity, such as "Shallow Nation," "Former Self," and "Floorkiller," with just enough variety to stop the whole album blurring into the experience of a single sound. Occasionally, the trio break for a track with a softer, more reflective tone (such as "Situations Like These"), and while these tracks have been arranged in every way as well as the others, it almost seems like a token effort at creating variety (something of whichIcon of Coil's peers do seem to have a better understanding). There is very little left to the imagination when considering what Serenity Is the Devil has to offer. This album is one of the strongest dance industrial releases of the year of its release, but is nothing more than that. Listeners looking for anything more varied or challenging may find something to better suit their tastes elsewhere, but those that know what they are after will find it on Serenity Is the Devil.