Current 93
To be honest, I have no idea why I started collecting Current 93 albums (the name was lifted from ideas by original satanist Aleister Crowley. Well, that's not entirely true. I've known about this band ever since I started working in music stores. Those weird album covers (and the fact that they were such expensive imports back then) made me quite curious so I gave them a listen. I must say I cringed the first time I heard some of their work. David Tibet's vocals sounded too theatrical and overacted, pretentious almost. The acoustic guitar in the background felt bland, lifeless and without colors (it basically sounds way too clean to my ears). I simply didn't get it. That and the fact that all the gothic kids I despised so seemed to eat this stuff up (although these same kids also enjoyed Diamond Galas whom I adore). For some reason though, I was still curious and tried out many more albums including some of their earlier releases. These were much more to my liking with their dark industrial noise collages and esoteric vibe. Still though, I wasn't ready to invest my hard earned minimum wage salary on 35$ albums by a band I couldn't figure out. Sure the whole "apocalyptic folk", "neofolk" brand fit them well, but somehow I always felt there was something missing in their music for me to truly enjoy. And this holds true even today, but now that i am finally investigating the works of Nurse With Wound and considering the tight links between Stapleton and Current 93 (he is a regular member), I simply had to hold my nose and dive in. This came shortly after finding my first Nurse With Wound albums, there they were: Hitler As Kalki and Of Ruine Or Some Blazing Starre at a reasonable price for once. I shrugged my shoulders and picked them up. It was now or never.
After listening to these, I can still tell you I am not particularly fond of these works, but I'm still not giving up on them. If only I could get past the whole fire, blood and sword peplum lyrics. Some of this stuff sounds as if it were lifted straight out of a Dio album from the 80s or from some Dungeons'N'Dragons manual. OK, so I'm exaggerating, but I do have trouble buying into all this occult business - only the like-minded Comus (to whom Current 93 pretty much owe their entire later career) manage to make me believe in all this mumbo jumbo. If I ever find more used albums, I will most certainly jump on the occasion as I have come to believe Current 93 can not be summed up with one or two albums. Each record seems to be a piece of a much wider puzzle just waiting to be discovered. I have complete respect for Tibet (renamed this way by none other than Genesis P-Orridge of Throbbing Gristle fame), the man has great taste in music (hey! he's a fan of Six Organs Of Admittance and he is responsible for making me hear Antony's beautiful voice even before he created any albums) and he's a fascinating figure by himself. It might be a challenge for me, but I'm certain I can get over his vocals and the band's particular sound to find the diamonds hidden in the rough.
Hitler As KalkiLabel: Durtro Release: 1993 Format: CD Cat. no: DURTRO 014CD |
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Of Ruine Or Some Blazing StarreLabel: Durtro Release: 1994 Format: CD Cat. no: DURTRO 018CD |
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