NATURE UNVEILED

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For me, at least, religious horror has always been a special kind of terrifying. Films like The Omen and The Exorcist were always far more frightening than simpler tales of hook-handed serial killers or more aggressive than average sharks. The kind of existential fear that comes from the unknown and unknowable realm of gods and the afterlife, utilized so effectively by Lovecraft and his contemporaries, taps into a far deeper level of the human psyche than more the more immediate and comprehensible threats of bodily harm.

It is appropriate, then, for me to review one of Current 93's earliest efforts, a bleak and relentless patchwork of New Testament nightmares that could be described as an aural equivalent of the Book of Revelations. David Tibet, the creative force behind Current 93, has always had a fascination early Christianity and describes himself as a Gnostic, referring to the early sects of that religion that were shunned and quickly drummed out of existence by the Catholic Church in the first few centuries AD. Gnostic literature can get pretty wild, with a far greater penchant for the fantastic and otherworldly than the rest of the accepted Christian canon. Their somewhat darker outlook is perhaps understandable when one realizes that one of the central themes of Gnosticism is the idea of a wicked creator deity, the Demiurge (the Old Testament, vengeful God), who is separate from the pure and loving God of the New Testament.

With this little bit of backstory, we are at least a little more prepared for this noisy and disturbing record. A bed of sampled Gregorian chants floats eerily in the background, while discordant industrial noises clank and moan over them, punctuated by hellish growling and Tibet's strident vocals proclaiming that "Maldoror is dead" (a reference to Lautreamont's classic proto-surrealist, stream of consciousness novel that is itself quite unsettling.)

The album is broken up into two, side-long tracks, but it really sounds like a single piece of music. Tape manipulation stretches vocals out into deep bass groans. Christian themes are repeated throughout, with the title of side one referencing Golgotha, the place in which Christ was crucified. Although Nature Unveiled bears little resemblance musically to Current 93's later, folk-influenced work, thematically there is much in common, and the listener is always left feeling that the Apocalypse is just around the corner.

Towards the end of the album, the vocals fade away and are replaced by distant wailing and increasingly urgent sirens, a harbinger of imminent and inescapable doom. Then, suddenly, it's all over, the vision of the end of days complete.

Nature unveiled is a raw, powerful and extremely noisy record, and although Tibet and most of his collaborators drifted away from and ultimately rejected the "industrial" label, there is no doubt that this album remains one of the best and most effective examples of what industrial music was all about in the early eighties. Still, it will probably leave most people desperate to turn on all the lights and put on something a little more cheerful.

This is one seriously confrontational album from Current 93. Nothing at all like their later work. The fact the it's recorded on four track only adds to the claustrophobic atmosphere. It's also the the most frightening album I own... by a long shot. Only Schloss Tegal's 'Oranur III' comes anywhere close.

Right from the outset on 'Ach Golgotha', chanting monks are sonically torn apart by animalistic growls of anguish and the tape manipulated vocals of David Tibet. On this recording he sounds like he's been possessed by Satan himself. The inclusion of snippets of an Aleister Crowley spoken recording only adds to the sense of impending doom.

There's a chunky, chopped piano sound, played with massive delay that sounds like it belongs in a 'Hammer Horror' film. What really sees this album hit it's heights are the vocals. They are intensely treated through echo filters and create the most malevolent sounds I've yet heard, despite being recorded 31 years ago. This is due to the very odd and instantly recognisable vocal style of David Tibet. He of the apocalyptic biblical texts.

Another plus is the fact that none of 'Nature Unveiled' sounds rushed. There's space between sounds which only adds to the disorientating bleak atmosphere of this Satanic disaster-scape. The frequent electronic screeches put another layer on top of what is already an intense sound. This would have been the perfect soundtrack to the 'The Exorcist'. Chants are slowed down and sped up amongst some chanting monks.

As far as tunes go, there ain't many. This one is a soundscape for tortured souls. There's a raw purity present that is sadly absent from most of Current 93's subsequent recordings. The cartoonish element is non existent. It's like they weren't even trying to sound 'dark' and 'spooky'. It just occurred naturally.

David Tibet takes a back seat in the vocal department on 'The Mystical Body of Christ in Chorazaim'. Annie Anxiety is centre stage and has her shot at scaring the pants off you. This track displays more screeching electronics and weird drills which are interwoven around her 'Diamanda Galas' like vocals. Mediaeval chants are looped amongst indeterminate and hugely stretched, shrieked voices. It's a challenging listen - even today.

To many this may sound like torture noise from the depths of hell. To me, it's one of my top ten albums of all time. Good old 'Throbbing Gristle' spawned more bands than they were ever credited for. Without them, this would more than likely never have happened.

The bonus tracks whilst being relevant and extremely odd in themselves are of poor quality, particularly the last two tracks which are actually bootlegs. They don't come anywhere close to the overwhelming brilliance of the original album.

As with many bands - their first release is best. The follow-up 'Dog's Blood Rising' while excellent, lacks coherence. 'Nature Unveiled' is tightly structured, with a definite vision of a final product.

This is a very original and unnerving recording and is perfect listening for a dark foggy Halloween night. Played at high volume - you certainly won't have any pesky kids knocking at your door asking for monkey nuts. They would not dare.

The stuff of nightmares made flesh.

This debut album from Current 93 takes the early experiments in ritual ambient suggested on the LAShTAL EP and extends them into two horrifying side-long pieces. Some subsequent reissues clutter the album up with bonus tracks from various auxiliary releases, but let's make no mistake - it's the two epic numbers which truly make this album the groundbreaking work of horror-ambient that it is.

Mingling influences ranging from Crowley's Thelemic occult system to The Exorcist to the Comte de Lautréamont's sinister meditation Les Chants de Maldoror to David Tibet's highly personal take on mystical Christianity, it's a nightmare journey through the back alleys of culture with a musical backing heavily influenced by the work of Nurse With Wound (whose principle contributors appear here) but lent a particular cohesiveness thanks to David Tibet's singular musical vision.