Current 93 is a British music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet (né David Michael Bunting, renamed ‘Tibet’ by Genesis P-Orridge) in United Kingdom.
Much of Current 93’s early work was similar to late 1970s and early 1980s industrial music: abrasive tape loops, droning synthesizer noises and Tibet’s distorted, ranting vocals. Later works found Tibet mostly casting off such trappings in favor of a more organic sound, labeled by some as “apocalyptic folk”, occasionally featuring his sinister nursery rhyme-influenced singing and primarily acoustic folk-styled music. Tibet has been the only constant in the group, though Steven Stapleton (Nurse With Wound) has appeared on nearly every Current 93 release and Michael Cashmore (Nature And Organization) is another frequent collaborator.
Other notable collaborators have included Douglas P., Rose McDowell, Ben Chasney, Nick Cave, Marc Almond, Antony Hegarty, Baby Dee, and Andrew W.K.
Tibet’s lyrics have been fairly consistent, regardless of delivery: The earlier recordings reflect his preoccupation with death, Christ, mysticism, Aleister Crowley, Tibetan Buddhism, Gnosticism, Weltschmerz, nihilism, Noddy, and a variety of occult notions. The later to present-day period of Current 93’s recordings increasingly reflect Tibet’s interest in Christian mysticism and the apocalypse. |
