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.