I HAVE A SPECIAL PLAN FOR THIS WORLD

A 22 minute E.P. which is worth every hard earned pobble-bead you ever made. The last and probably most disturbing recording by Current 93 who were supposedly well past their scariest by this point.

"I Have a Special Plan' is full of those sinister, throaty, stringy vocals by prophet of doom David Tibet, who speaks of some truly terrifying 'endgame' of some sort. Thankfully, this is entirely electronic, with some seriously messed up vocals at the forefront.

I still can't work out what it's all about, but something monstrous is clearly going down here. Speeches of Death and eternal Damnation are what spring to mind. The lyrics are by mental poet Thomas Ligotti who finds it amusing to use scary passages like "Consumate disaster where puppets turn to face the puppet master"

.All the while, dread laden keyboard chords are stretched out vastly heaping more layers of terror on the listener.

Incomprehensible digitally distorted vocals play stereo tennis with David Tibet's slabs of vocal doom which he carries out effortlessly like no-one else can. That nasally set of vocal cords are recognisable anywhere. The best thing about this incredibly strange track is that the vocals vocals gradually deteriorate and stretch into digital meltdown leaving the listener more confused, freaked out and vulnerable than you would have thought possible. Particularly the spooky outro which includes the terrifyingly warped - "the shining brainless beacon" I should point out that there are no drums or bass on this recording - so let that be a warning!

Honestly.... this is literally like listening to one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse who has come to wipe out humanity...

The second major collaboration between Current 93 and horror author Thomas Ligotti finds David Tibet reciting the Ligotti-penned title poem (not to be confused with the prose story of the same name, also by Ligotti, which accompanied the novel My Work Is Not Yet Done) against the most disturbing dark ambient soundtrack that the project has ever produced, woven by Tibet and various collaborators including Nurse With Wound's Stephen Stapledon.

Electronic chattering issues forth between Tibet's proclamations, like he is translating from some inhuman tongue, and the whole affair disintegrates into nihilistic nothingness. Even in the light of early, pioneering classics like Nature Unveiled, this may well be the greatest single track ever to emerge from the dark ambient aspect of Current 93.

Current 93 albums are pretty creepy, even scary for the most part. However, I never felt a strong discomfort for them, heck not even some of their most dark songs have ever really made me feel fear, but everything has an exception, and for Current 93, that exception comes in the form of the EP of I Have a Special Plan For This World.

This album is a lot more related to the more experimental ambient works David Tibet makes in tandem to his neofolk, and in this case he is working with Thomas Ligotti, with him writing this manifesto.

I like to compare this record to The Caretaker's Everywhere At The End Of Time for a similar atmosphere, however EATEOT was a purely instrumental and gradual piece, simulating dementia on the brain, which slowly degrades the more the music goes on, from something lavish and peaceful, to practically nothing and painful. On the other hand, I Have a Special Plan For This World is filled with words and an already painful ambiance, and deals with paranoia, occultism, and generally messed up behavior from the protagonist(s) plan.

I feel like what does this EP justice is the delivery. It isn't sung or delivered with David's typical demeanor, but instead it is very cut and dry, monotone, and honestly scary. It is not even as if you are hearing some unknown stranger, or someone who is remotely sane, it feels like you are hearing the audio recordings of some malignant cult priest who is stripped away from all of their emotion.

Furthermore, this EP can really make you feel uncomfortable. Current 93's music is meant to be a bit more fearful in their musical deliveries, but works like All The Pretty Little Horsies, Sleep Has His House, and even the industrial works are not all too bad to get through, but this EP was really hard for me. Half way through, I was so close to just stopping the EP and going to something else, but I pushed on, and even though I didn't get rewarded, I did get to feel something truly new in my musical listening. I got too feel really uncomfortable after hearing the insane ramblings of a man swept in paranoia, and the ending where the piece slowly dies with nothing but a few seconds of silence, it really all makes it feel so truly messed up, but that is the main point of it all, to be a messed up and uncomfortable experience, and for that, I think it succeeds in flying colors.

If you want something nice to listen to, do not listen to this, but if you want something challenging, then I couldn't recommend this more. Do I absolutely love this EP for its music? No, but do I think of this as a bonafide masterclass of dark ambient music and poetry? Absolutely.

I HAVE A SPECIAL PLAN FOR THIS WORLD EP

The first EP of the 2000s by David Tibet's CURRENT 93 project finds him delivering another round of poetry with various field recordings, tape music and dark ambient music decorating the background. A 22-minute single track I HAVE A SPECIAL PLAN FOR THIS WORLD features Tibet narrating the poem of the same name by the author Thomas Ligotti who was most famous in the 1950s for his weird and gothic fiction short stories that tackled two of Tibet's favorite themes, namely pessimism and nihilism!

A sparsely decorated affair the EP features a return appearance of Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound and harkens back to CURRENT 93's post-industrial sounds of the early 80s which includes synthesized drones and random sounds from found objects. Only the most minimal use of acoustic guitar and piano can be heard and the EP has proven to be one of CURRENT 93's most beloved of his entire length list of shorter EP releases. This was specifically released as a one track CD on the Durtro label but the 12" vinyl version featured a B-side titled "Excerpts From Bungalow Tapes."

One of the closest things to the apocalyptic nightmare music that was displayed on Tibet's earliest albums such as "Nature Unveiled" and "Dogs Blood Rising," I HAVE A SPECIAL PLAN FOR THIS WORLD is indeed a bleak and depressive affair with clearly enunciated spoken word prose that leaves nothing to the imagination in exactly what he is uttering. The bursts of radio static, tape machine blips and bleeps and dark ambient droning really takes this to a whole new level of bleakness especially after releasing such brilliant and more uplifting albums in the 90s that focused on the catchy and melodic acoustic guitar strumming of neofolk.

Of course the most sinister sounds from this EP are from Tibet's poetic delivery itself with a cold and sterile detached procession through the darkest subject matter one could wish to experience in a poetry reading. While i've never really been a huge fan of spoken word vocals in a musical context i have to say that David Tibet delivers it all in such a thoughtful creative way that it's utterly irresistible but only if the darkest of subject matter attracts you for such things. Yet another excursion into some of the most psychotically delicious poetry sessions laid down to a recording, CURRENT 93 is the gift that keeps on giving!