L Tier III

Threshold House.

British experimental and post-industrial label · London · one of several imprints Coil created to release their own work and that of affiliated projects · founded by John Balance and Peter Christopherson · initially a vanity imprint distributed through World Serpent, later run independently · LOCI catalogue prefix

filed under
Experimental · post-industrial · electronic · drone · ritual · the later Coil catalogue and its side-projects
A band's own label rather than a roster imprint · the home of Coil's self-released records and of the affiliated names Coil worked under, with Eskaton and Chalice as associated imprints · the channel through which the late Coil catalogue reached its listeners
FoundedBy John Balance and Peter Christopherson of Coil · London · one of several labels the band set up to issue their own work · also the name of the official Coil website and, in the band's mythology, a place as much as an imprint
What it wasInitially a vanity label in the precise sense · the records were manufactured and distributed by other companies, most prominently World Serpent · after World Serpent's collapse the label carried on independently, releasing directly
The LOCI catalogueThe LOCI prefix runs through the records issued while Coil were based in England · among them the 1993 Themes for Derek Jarman's Blue 7-inch, a limited release marking Jarman's death · the catalogue is small, exact and heavily editioned, in keeping with the band's habits
Affiliated namesFrom 1994 Coil released under other names, several of them carried on Threshold House · ELpH, Black Light District, Time Machines and others · the associated imprints Eskaton and Chalice sit beside Threshold House in the same family
The catalogue characterCoil's self-released and reissued work: live documents such as Megalithomania! and Live in Porto, the late reworkings like The New Backwards, and the records the band wanted to keep under their own control · experimental, post-industrial, ritual, often tied to a specific occasion
After CoilFollowing Balance's death in 2004 and the end of Coil, Peter Christopherson built his solo project The Threshold HouseBoys Choir on the name · the imprint and its mythology outlived the band that made it
Why Tier IIIFiled on curatorial position · a self-contained, single-act label of clear identity rather than a connector or a broad roster · its weight is inseparable from Coil, whose own file carries the music; the label is filed for its role as the channel and for the affiliated-project releases that appeared nowhere else
Filed atlabel file · threshold-house.html · cross-referenced at Coil, Peter Christopherson, World Serpent and the Lexicon

Editorial.

Threshold House is Coil's own label, and the Bureau files it at Tier III on that basis: a self-contained imprint of clear identity, filed for its role rather than for a roster. John Balance and Peter Christopherson set it up as one of several names through which the band issued their own work and the work of their affiliated projects, and its history is inseparable from theirs. The music itself is documented at the Coil file; what the label entry records is the channel, the catalogue and the mythology that grew around the name.

It began as a vanity label in the exact sense of the term. The records carried the Threshold House name, but they were manufactured and distributed by other companies, most prominently World Serpent, the distributor at the centre of the British experimental underground of the period. When World Serpent collapsed, Threshold House did not; the label continued independently, releasing directly, which is the point at which it became a working imprint rather than only an imprimatur. The LOCI catalogue prefix runs through the records issued while Coil were based in England, a small and exactly editioned sequence that included the 1993 Themes for Derek Jarman's Blue 7-inch, issued to mark the filmmaker's death.

From 1994 the band began releasing under other names, and several of these came out on Threshold House: ELpH, Black Light District, Time Machines and more, alongside the associated imprints Eskaton and Chalice. The catalogue that accumulated is Coil's self-released and self-controlled work, from live documents such as Megalithomania! and Live in Porto to late reworkings like The New Backwards. After Balance's death in 2004 and the end of the band, Christopherson built his solo project The Threshold HouseBoys Choir on the name, so that the imprint and its imagery outlived the group. The Bureau files Threshold House at Tier III as Coil's own channel and the home of records, and affiliated-project releases, that appeared under the band's direct control and often nowhere else.

Selected catalogue.

A working selection · the Coil-cluster releases that ran through the label · reference points, not a complete list

YearTitleArtist / formatNote
1993Themes for Derek Jarman's BlueCoil · 7-inchLOCI prefix · a limited release on blue vinyl marking Jarman's death.
2003Megalithomania!Coil · liveA single-piece live document, heavily editioned in the band's manner.
2006Live in PortoCoil · liveAn authorised live recording from the 2003 Porto performance.
2008The New BackwardsCoil · LPA late reworking of earlier demo material, released through the label.
variousaffiliated-name releasesELpH · Black Light District · Time MachinesThe names Coil released under from 1994, several carried on the imprint.

Cross-references.

ARTCoil · the band whose label this is; the music itself is documented there
ARTPeter Christopherson · co-founder; later built The Threshold HouseBoys Choir on the name
LBLWorld Serpent · the distributor that manufactured and carried the early releases, until its collapse
FORF·11 Industrial proper · upstream form, with extension into F·17 dark ambient across the later Coil work

Coda.

Filing held open. The Bureau will close this note when the catalogue settles.