Icon of Coil

Infobox musical artist
Name = Icon of Coil
Img_capt = Icon of Coil
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Background = group_or_band
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Origin = Norway
Instrument =
Genre = Futurepop
EBM
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Years_active = 1997–present
Label = Metropolis Records (North America)
Out of Line Music (Germany)
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Current_members = Andy LaPlegua
Sebastian Komor
Christian Lund
Past_members =
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Icon of Coil is a Norwegian electronic music band. The band was established as a solo project in 1997 by Andy LaPlegua who was joined by former Sector 9 (now Moonitor and Zombie Girl) bandmate Sebastian Komor to perform live. With the release of "Shallow Nation", the band's first single, Komor joined full-time. In 2000, Christian Lund joined the live lineup. Later that year the band's first full-length album, "Serenity is the Devil", was released, which climbed to number one on the Deutsche Alternative Charts. Shortly thereafter, Lund became a full-time band member.

History

Formation

In 1997 Andy LaPlegua established the project, Icon Of Coil, which was primarily a concept built around a logo, graphic design and music. Soon after the inception, the music soon turned out to be the most important part of the concept and LaPlegua invited Sebastian Komor, who he had worked with before on the project Sector 9, (now called Moonitor) in 1996, to work with him on the project as a live member. After just a couple of gigs and the release of IOC’s first single, "Shallow Nation", Seb became a full-time member.

hallow Nation (2000)

"Shallow Nation", released early in 2000, sold out the first thousand copies after only two weeks in the stores, which resulted in a deal with the Norwegian record label Tatra Records. Around that same time Tatra Records released the compilation Sex, Goth & Electronics, to which IOC contributed an exclusive version of their song "Repeat It".

Before they started working on their second release IOC did programming for the Apoptygma Berzerk track "Starsign". Soon afterwards, they traveled to Germany, with live member Jon Holm, to support Apoptygma on their Welcome to Earth tour 2000 at their gigs in Frankfurt, Cottbus and Leipzig before going back to Norway to play together at Rockefeller in Oslo.

Audiences seemed to enjoy Icon Of Coil's energetic and melodious sound fused with Andy's hypnotic voice and the band's success grew. One Nation Under Beat debuted in the top 20 on the DAC-chart (Deutsch Alternative Chart) for eight weeks and peaked at number three.

In late spring of 2000 at a gig in Uddevalla, Sweden, Christian Lund joined the band as a live-member and went on stage with Andy and Seb for the first time. Along with being the vocalist for his En Route project, Christian had a background from a melodious EBM Fredrikstad-band called Elected By Fear where he played together with Fredrik Hansen from Echo Image (who also played at that gig) and Marius Johnsen from Centravibe.

erenity is the Devil (2000-2001)

After the release of IOC's first full-length "Serenity is the Devil" in November 2000, which reached number three on the DAC-chart, the band went to Germany together with Beborn Beton. With nine gigs, positive feedback from the audience and very good reviews on the debut album, IOC gained a following in the synth/industrial scene.

Shortly afterward, the album crossed the Atlantic and was released in North America by Metropolis Records. On March 29th, 2001, the band itself followed and boarded a plane to Chicago. They were on their own in a foreign country and on a tight budget. The band flew from city to city, slept in hotels and sometimes even in the homes of their promoters. The song Situations Like These from the (then) forthcoming Seren EP was played live for the first time to an incredibly enthusiastic and energetic American audience, which made the tour a big success. Then after playing at Slimelight and Astoria II (Electrofest) in London, the guys had a short break before they faced a festival-filled summer in Europe.

The summer kicked off with a successful show in Leipzig, Germany, at Wave-Gothic Treffen. The following festivals included CSD, Zillo Festival, Xtreaktor Festival, Eurorock, Infest and ended at M'era Luna where the trio did a hard-hitting performance in the Hangar.

Situations Like These became a big club hit and the band was ready for a second tour (this time in a Nightliner touring bus) of North America with VNV Nation. The leg began in Chicago on the 16th of November at a packed Vic Theatre, which set the standard for the rest of the 19 shows. Icon of Coil, VNV Nation and the rest of the crew continued up to Canada, down the east coast to Florida, through Texas to the West coast and Hollywood, where they did their 15th show in front of about 900 people at the Palace. The four-week tour ended in Edmonton, Canada with a great show and a huge after-party.

The Soul Is in the Software (2002)

During their tours, the band found the time to write material for their second album, "The Soul is in the Software", which was released in April 2002 and stayed at number one on the DAC for several weeks. IOC then performed at two more festivals: The Dark Jubilee Festival in London, and later as the Sunday headliner for Synthpop Goes the World in Toronto, Canada.

Machines Are Us (2004) - Uploaded And Remixed (2004)

Icon of Coil came a long way in a short amount of time. For 2004 their third album, "Machines Are Us", continued the trend with pummeling beats, sympathetic vocals, anthemic melodies, and sweeping synths. Careful not to be outdone or forgotten, Icon of Coil released at the tail end of 2004 "Uploaded And Remixed", which featured brand new mixes of songs from their first two records and two exclusive tracks.

Discography

* "Shallow Nation" (MCD) (2000)
* "One Nation Under Beat" (MCD) (2000)
* "Serenity is the Devil" (2000)
* "Seren EP" (2001)
* "Access and Amplify" (MCD) (2002)
* "The Soul is in the Software" (2002)
* "Android" (MCD) (2003)
* "Machines Are Us" (2004)
* "Machines Are Us" (2CD) Limited edition (2004)
* "Uploaded And Remixed" (2004)
* "Uploaded And Remixed / Shelter Ep" (2CD) Limited edition (2004)
* "I-II-III (2006)

Related bands

*Combichrist
*Panzer AG

External links

* [http://www.iconofcoil.com/ Official website]
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* [http://www.albertastars.com/galleries/iconofcoil Icon Of Coil Gallery Page]
* [http://www.metropolis-records.com/ Label]