Current 93
Thunder Perfect Mind
’93 current’ is an idea developed by Alister Crowley about men of power internalizing spiritual change from which Current 93 derive their name. 25 years of work has seen David Tibet deliver a continuous stream of ground breaking records; a discography with more than his fair share of master pieces. Certainly one of the jewels in the crown is Thunder Perfect Mind, a definitive apocalyptic folk album. It contains two songs based on the Gnostic poem ‘Thunder perfect, Perfect Mind’ (or more accurately ‘The Thunder, Perfect Intellect). A paradoxical monologue from an immanent saviour (parts of its text are spoken and snarled by Tibet on the track "Thunder Perfect Mind I").
Driven by the acoustic guitar work of long time collaborator Michael Cashmore and Tibet’s distinctive, almost nusery rhyme like vocals it is certainly not flipent or journalistically lazy to describe this as spiritual. This is a personal record with songs dedicated to friends, colleagues and people Tibet has met. An intense, yet beautiful journey, drawing on aspects of atonal and uncomfortable lessons he learnt from his industrial heritage (as a member of 23 Skidoo, Pyschic TV and early Current 93 albums) repressed in a neo-folk context. Thunder Perfect Mind is an album that handsomely rewards repeated listenings and demands attention. This is most true of the longest and perhaps most complex piece "Hitler as Kalki (SDM)". Here Tibet plays with the idea forwarded by the Hindu social Darwinist, Holocaust denier and Hitler worshipper Savitri Devi Mukherji (SDM), that Hitler was in fact the final avatar of the Hindu God Vishnu, and the initiator of apocalypse. The Pysch guitar gradually develops throughout to a frantic strummed acid-jazz wah, climaxing in a trippy storm of feedback and deranged emotional vocals.
Thunder Perfect Mind is a superb starting point to explore Current 93’s extensive back catalogue, it is certainly one of the most important records of the 90s. For those who have not fully graspped the Current 93 vibe, this is the perfect place to invest some effort; effort which will be rewarded on an apocalyptic scale for the sucessful journeymen.
Driven by the acoustic guitar work of long time collaborator Michael Cashmore and Tibet’s distinctive, almost nusery rhyme like vocals it is certainly not flipent or journalistically lazy to describe this as spiritual. This is a personal record with songs dedicated to friends, colleagues and people Tibet has met. An intense, yet beautiful journey, drawing on aspects of atonal and uncomfortable lessons he learnt from his industrial heritage (as a member of 23 Skidoo, Pyschic TV and early Current 93 albums) repressed in a neo-folk context. Thunder Perfect Mind is an album that handsomely rewards repeated listenings and demands attention. This is most true of the longest and perhaps most complex piece "Hitler as Kalki (SDM)". Here Tibet plays with the idea forwarded by the Hindu social Darwinist, Holocaust denier and Hitler worshipper Savitri Devi Mukherji (SDM), that Hitler was in fact the final avatar of the Hindu God Vishnu, and the initiator of apocalypse. The Pysch guitar gradually develops throughout to a frantic strummed acid-jazz wah, climaxing in a trippy storm of feedback and deranged emotional vocals.
Thunder Perfect Mind is a superb starting point to explore Current 93’s extensive back catalogue, it is certainly one of the most important records of the 90s. For those who have not fully graspped the Current 93 vibe, this is the perfect place to invest some effort; effort which will be rewarded on an apocalyptic scale for the sucessful journeymen.
“Hitler comes as Kalki, Kalki comes as Hitler”
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