ALEPH AT HALLUCINATORY MOUNTAIN

The second part of the trilogy that began with Black Ships At the Sky shifts startling away from the restatement of Current 93's neofolk sound on that album. David Tibet had collaborated before this on an EP with Om, a doom metal duo comprising former members of Sleep, and their influence seems to have spilled over here; this is not quite "Current 93 go stoner doom", but the sound here is louder and heavier and rooted more in psychedelic rock with noise rock influences than in their typical neofolk territory.

This is the project's first album for quite a while without Michael Cashmore onboard, which may explain the shift in style; of course, Current 93 has always been David Tibet and whoever he gets to play with him, but this time around it's a very unusual Current 93, with familiar faces like Nurse With Wound's Steven Stapledon rubbing shoulders with unlikely visitors like Andrew W.K. and porn star Sasha Grey, who is sneakily quite a keen industrial music fan.

The connecting thread, of course, through all of Current 93's works is David Tibet's idiosyncratic poetry, and by adding doomy psychedelia to his sound here he once again offers a fresh new light on his work. A real late-career surprise.

Recently I have been kinda getting into more darker?folksy and classical music, with bands like early Ulver and Univers Zero, you know, stuff that is a bit intense and cryptic in a more folk and avant-garde direction, however in this wake of new found love of this more darker sound, I have discovered my love for Current 93. They first formed in the 80s as an industrial and noise group, which you can see from their earliest releases of Dogs Blood Rising, Nature Unveiled, and their many collaboration pieces with Nurse With Wound, another noise and industrial band. However, from what I have understood due to RYM listings of their albums, they didn't get their footing in the folk sphere until 1987's Imperium, their 6th studio album not counting the collabo pieces with Nurse With Wound.

There are two constants within the band, one, David Tibet being the only member to be in every line-up since the debut, and two, the constantly changing sounds. Every Current 93 album basically has a different sound to each, usually based around David's wants, or more so desires to constantly try new things with his more dark and occultic brand of neo folk and ambient music, which I think reaches quite a great threshold with Aleph At Hallucinatory Mountain, which so far, from what I have heard of Current 93, is my favorite album from them.

Aleph At Hallucinatory Mountain is such an interesting album as it goes for a heavier, and even more doom and noise metal sound compared to their usual, more softer affairs with folk music. This direction is mostly due to their collaboration EP, Inerrant Rays of Infallible Sun, which was a piece with the stoner metal band Om, which I think gave Tibet some inspiration to try a similar, more metal sound himself. Surprisingly enough, this stark contrast in sound actually works for Current 93 in my opinion, sure their more pastoral, albeit creepy folk music takes a tiny bit of a backseat, the identity and musical and lyrical prowess is still felt here. Tibet's poetry here is still as poignant as ever, creating a modernistic fairy tale that whirls through themes of satanic cults, and spiritualism, which seems to be a theme most Current 93 works go after, and one I really find interesting.

I think, even though the sound is a lot more different and heavier compared to stuff like All The Pretty Little Horsies and Sleep Has His House, you still get that awesome and dark sound that I think every Current 93 album should go by. In fact, I feel like David is finding a way to uniquely make another more heavy album, something that could be compared to his 80s works where he experimented with a lot more industrial music, so I think this doom and noise metal effort really works nicely. I am also just a complete sucker for doom metal with some of my favorite bands being Ufomammut and Sleep, so there is that too.

But, what I really adore about this album is just how well each song explores this record's unique atmosphere. A lot of these songs are straight up bone chilling, almost comparable to stuff like Swans or Einstürzende Neubauten in terms of creating these atmospheric and dark sounding songs, but Current 93 gives it all a unique flavor that Tibet has clearly mastered throughout the years, and this mastering of atmospheres and how they are used on here makes this album a tried and true masterpiece in my opinion.

Really, I am quite surprised that this album isn't as well known, or at least well beloved within Current 93's discography. This is as good, if not even better than The Light Is Leaving Us All or Sleep Has His House, as it showcases a band going for a unique, but still really amazing sound, that I think works really, really well. I recommend listening to this at the middle of the night with headphones, as the stereo, in your ear experience helps let this album really go well, but with a nightly setting can really help make this dark album truly shine, or dim, I guess. Absolutely, highly recommend this one for both folk and doom metal fans.