Current 93 are an English experimental music group, founded in 1982 by David Tibet. 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, excoriating vocals. In the mid-'80s, Current 93's sound shifted to a style Tibet has called "apocalyptic folk", combining folk music with industrial elements. Tibet has been the only constant member of Current 93, with a wide variety of collaborators joining in over the years. They have released over twenty full-length albums, as well as many other recordings.

Background

Current 93 initially consisted of Tibet, fellow Psychic TV alumnus Jhonn Balance, and 23 Skidoo member Fritz Catlin. Tibet has been the only constant member in the group, though Steven Stapleton (of Nurse with Wound) appeared on nearly every Current 93 release until 2010. Michael Cashmore was also a long-term contributor starting with Thunder Perfect Mind. Douglas P. of Death in June has played on well over a dozen Current 93 releases. Tibet's lyrics have been fairly consistent, regardless of delivery: The earlier recordings reflect his preoccupation with death, Christ, mysticism, Aleister Crowley (Tibet borrowed the term "93 Current" from Crowley – the 93 Current being the current of Thelema or Agape), Tibetan Buddhism, Gnosticism, runes, swastikas, Noddy, The Wicker Man, 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 apocalypse. Tibet has stated that he identifies as a Christian. Literary influences include Lautreamont's Les Chants de Maldoror, the Bible and its apocrypha, The Poetic Eddas, the Child Ballads, Hildegard von Bingen, Yukio Mishima, John Dee's De Heptarchia Mystica, The Thunder, Perfect Mind, William Blake, Louis Wain, writer Thomas Ligotti, occult British author Arthur Machen (originator of the title "The Inmost Light"), M.R. James's various ghost stories, The Cloud of Unknowing, Count Eric Stenbock, and Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker.

Discography

Primary, full-length, Current 93 studio albums

• Nature Unveiled (1984) • Dogs Blood Rising (1984) • In Menstrual Night (1986) • Dawn (1987) • Imperium (1987) • Christ and the Pale Queens Mighty in Sorrow (1988) • Swastikas for Noddy (1988) • Earth Covers Earth (1988) • Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God (1989) • Looney Runes (1990) • Thunder Perfect Mind (1992) • Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre (1994) • All the Pretty Little Horses: The Inmost Light (1996) • Soft Black Stars (1998) • Sleep Has His House (2000) • How He Loved the Moon (Moonsongs for Jhonn Balance) (2005) • Black Ships Ate the Sky (2006) • Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain (2009) • Baalstorm, Sing Omega (2010) • HoneySuckle Æons (2011) • I Am the Last of All the Field That Fell: A Channel (2014) • The Light Is Leaving Us All (2018) • If a City Is Set Upon a Hill (2022)

Full discography

Compilation appearances

Current 93 Presents releases

Members and collaborators

Current 93 recordings often involve a wide range of collaborators, from musicians to occultists. Apart from those mentioned earlier, these have included:

Timeline

Only long-term contributors are included in the chart below.