Carl McCoy
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Carl McCoy (born January 18, 1963, Lambeth, London, England) is the frontman for gothic rock band Fields of the Nephilim. The group formed in the early 1984 and released its first album, Dawnrazor, in 1987 following a pair of EPs. The group produced two more full-length albums, The Nephilim and Elizium, plus a live album and a handful of singles, before splitting in 1991. McCoy went on to form Nefilim. The 1996 release of Nefilim's album Zoon saw a departure from the ethereal, almost progressive, gothic sound of Elizium in favour of an industrial, death metal direction.
McCoy's new album, Mourning Sun, was released in Europe on November 21, 2005, under the name Fields of the Nephilim, despite the fact that he is reported not to hold the copyright to that name. McCoy has been secretive about the musicians who play on Mourning Sun, though it appears none of the other original band members contributed. The album was written and recorded in near-total isolation in a mobile studio called the Ice Cage.
McCoy is well known for his mystical and occult-based lyrics and beliefs. His works often make reference Aleister Crowley (though he is not publicly a follower of Crowley's Thelema religion). Recordings of Crowley's voice can be heard on a handful of Fields of the Nephilim songs; the cover of the Zoon album features a shrouded McCoy mimicking an image of Crowley making the sign of silence; one of Fields of the Nephilim's biggest hits, Moonchild, shares a name with one of Crowley's novels.
McCoy's parents were Jehovah's Witnesses. Some fans have conjectured that this aspect of his upbringing led him to identify with Crowley, another rebellious, mystical, anti-Christian figure from a strict religious background (Crowley's parents were members of the Plymouth Brethren).
In interviews, McCoy has hinted that he sees his on-stage performances as theurgic, magickal or shamanic workings. He is also an admirer of Austin Osman Spare (taking the name of the Fields of the Nephilim live album Earth Inferno from a work by Spare) and has thanked 'AOS' in dedications on his albums. In another nod to chaos magic, Fields of the Nephilim's song Psychonaut shares its name with a book on the subject by Peter Carroll, and quotes lines from the Necronomicon.
McCoy owns a graphics company, Sheer Faith, which has supplied art and design for all of his musical projects. Sheer Faith has also produced artwork for other projects, such as for the Storm Constantine book Hermetech and Andrew Collins' 21st Century Grail.
McCoy appeared in the motion picture Hardware (1990), directed by Richard Stanley.
McCoy has two daughters: Scarlett Lily (?), born in 1985 (?), and Eden McCoy together with his long-time partner Lynn. The Nefilim's 1996 album Zoon was dedicated to Scarlett. Both girls sing on Mourning Sun.
