Carl McCoy
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Carl Douglas McCoy (born January 18, 1963, Lambeth, London, England) is the frontman for gothic rock band Fields of the Nephilim.
[edit] Biography
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.[citation needed]
McCoy's latest 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.[citation needed] 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;[citation needed] the cover of the Zoon album features a shrouded McCoy mimicking an image of Crowley making the sign of silence;[citation needed] one of Fields of the Nephilim's biggest hits, "Moonchild", shares a name with one of Crowley's novels.
In interviews, McCoy has hinted that he sees his on-stage performances as theurgic, magickal or shamanic workings.[citation needed] 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, Sheerfaith, which has supplied art and design for all of his musical projects. Sheerfaith 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) as Nomad, directed by Richard Stanley[1]. who had previously directed a number of videos for Fields of the Nephilim.
He has two daughters: Scarlett (born in 5 August 1985) and Eden McCoy, together with his long-time partner Lynn. He also has a Godson named Jack. The Nefilim's 1996 album Zoon was dedicated to Scarlett. Both girls sing on Mourning Sun. McCoy's parents were Jehovah's Witnesses.[citation needed]
