Final Coil frontman Phil Stiles has announced a special remix of his 2021 solo debut album. The remix was produced by Seattle-based DJ Shane Aungst and is, once again, to be released via Trepanation Recordings. Full details below.
The Anchorhold Dissolution
Influenced by the likes of Nine Inch Nail’s Fixed and Massive Attack Vs The Mad Professor, The Anchorhold Dissolution is a fresh take on 2021’s The Anchorhold. Where the original charted a progressive path that ebbed and flowed across its runtime, Seattle-DJ Shane Aungst has rebuilt the album from the ground up, remixing each of the pieces and adjusting the running order to create something entirely new.
Phil first encountered Shane when the latter remixed a track for the acclaimed Face the Beat series, produced in conjunction with Side-Line Magazine. The result was not unlike the original Anchorhold collaborations, where each of the guest artists brought something wholly unique to the record, and the pair began talking. Initially, the idea was for Shane to remix one or two songs, but his vision was so compelling that ideas for a grander project formed – a full album remix that would allow Shane to put his own stamp on the whole record. The result is The Anchorhold Dissolution billed as Phil Stiles Vs Shane Aungst.
Of the project, Phil said:
“I honestly never expected that Shane would have the time or the interest to create an entirely new vision for the album. When we started talking, it was one of our various late-night rambles and we were chatting about some of the artists that we both love. Perhaps inevitably Nine Inch Nails came up, and we started talking about how amazing it was that Trent was able to present versions of his records that were substantially different and yet really added something to the experience.
The next thing I know, Shane starts sending through these amazing versions of songs from The Anchorhold. Each take offers something different, but what I didn’t release until the end was that Shane had a masterplan, creating a new sequence that saw the songs become increasingly splintered until the molten-vinyl finale of It Follows Me. For me, despite having worked for over a year on the original record, it was like hearing the album for the first time, and I am so happy that Shane was able to create something that took the intent of the original and filtered it through his own, highly individual vision.”
With new artwork, once again from Final Coil’s Jola Stiles, and additional mastering from Phil, The Anchorhold Dissolution will take fans of the original record on a whole new journey.
Track listing:
- C21H22N2O2 (feat. Kyle Brandt)
- Dance Fucker
- The Wanderer (feat. Matt Steady)
- Sleep Take Me (feat. Tomek Wolski)
- Reflections From An Echo Chamber (feat. The Medea Project)
- I’m Not Done Yet (feat. Richard Allsopp & Mark Gatland)
- End This Way
- It Follows Me (feat. Roger Morter & Richard Allsopp)
About The Original:
Phil Stiles’ The Anchorhold was a labour of love. Recorded during the myriad lockdowns of 2020-21, it saw Phil collaborate with eight musicians from four different countries (UK, South Africa, USA & Poland) creating a darkly compelling album that swaps genres at will. Mastered by the legendary James Plotkin (Khanate, ISIS, Merzbow etc) and with gorgeous artwork from Final Coil’s Jola Stiles, the album was released via the renowned Trepanation Records (Gozer, Pupil Slicer, Callus etc.) in September 2021, whereupon it quickly gathered a number of great reviews.
Original Contributors
Richard Allsopp – Monachopsis; Tomek Wolski – S/W; Pauline Silver and Brett Minnie – The Medea Project; Kyle Brandt – Molitoth / A Light Within; Roger Morter – ex-Pornographic Sunset; Matt Steady – New Buryin’ Ground and Mark Gatland – IT / Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate
Praise For The Anchorhold:
” Phil Stiles plays a musical style that takes industrial, electronica, post rock and a touch of metal and mixes them together to create a sound of his own as well as using a variety of many different session musicians. The production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover frustrations and isolation themes.” 8/10 – Dark Underground Music Zine
“The progressive gives here the air of his grace, but it is the sensations described above that triumph. That and a deep sense of atmosphere. Good surprise, recommend.” 8.5/10 – World of Metal
“…a niche area, somewhat distant from mainstream metal, likely to appeal more to specific target audiences, but performatively and productively speaking, it’s flawless and on message.” 10/10 – Rock Queen Reviews
“Overall, The Anchorhold is a complex and imaginative release.” 7/10 – GBHBL
“…what can be said safely is that either way, there will be more good things to come from this quarter. After all. He hasn’t failed us yet.” – Third Eye Cinema
