History Music / Current93

* RearrangeTheSong: Songs perpetually get re-arranged and mashed up live. Starting in 2003, his band used his earlier drone work as backdrops for the newer folk material.
** ''Swastikas for Noddy'' was re-mixed in the studio as ''Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God''.
** Tibet's cover of "All the Pretty Little Horses" changes the song from a wishful nursery song to a rumination on the disparity between dreams and reality.
** Released a few months after ''Black Ships Ate the Sky'' was ''Black Ships Eat the Sky,'' an alternate mix of the album which came in at a close second when they were deciding which mix to release as ''...Ate the Sky.''
** ''Sleep Has His House'' appeared in different mixes on CD and on vinyl. The Subscriber Edition of ''Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain'' also contained alternate mixes of the album proper.
** The 2008 reissues of ''Nature Unveiled'', ''Dogs Blood Rising'', ''In Menstrual Night'', ''Live at Bar Maldoror'' and ''Dawn'' came with re-arranged re-mixes by Andrew Liles (at least in the limited edition versions.) The five mixes were collected in a vinyl-only box set called ''Like Swallowing Eclipses'', which also included Liles' mixes of ''I Have a Special Plan for This World'' and ''Faust''.

* SurrealHorror: The Black Ship itself.

* BasedOnADream: Multiple instances of this. ''Thunder Perfect Mind'' arose out of a dream Tibet had in which he and Stapleton presented copies of a new album to each other with the shared title. Several other songs and albums have appeared out of visions Tibet has had, which are credited to various angels and daemons.

* ProductionPosse: Several, the most famous comprising producer Steven Stapleton and guitarist Michael Cashmore. Other major players include Douglas P., Tony Wakeford, Joolie Wood, Rose [=McDowell=], James Blackshaw, and Andrew Liles.

* ThrowItIn: Tibet broke down sobbing partway through recording the vocals of "The Bloodbells Chime," after struggling to keep his composition. This take was kept in, with an alternate vocal take playing over it.
** Jhonn's one-liner in ''Where The Long Shadow Falls'' and ''The Long Shadow Falls'' was improvised.

* Animal Motif: A few of them; Dogs, dragons, lions... The most prominent one is cats, which were the motif of one of his favorite artists (Louis Wain) and an object of worship in ancient Egypt.

* ApocalypseHow: Most of his works play with this trope in some way or another. Some, like ''Nature Unveiled'' and ''Black Ships Ate the Sky'' deal with demons and EldritchAbominations; others like ''The Inmost Light'' refer to a personal, yet still very much real and full-scale apocalypse. "The Seven Seals Are Revealed at the End of Time as Seven Bows: The Bloodbow, the Pissbow, the Painbow, the Faminebow, the Deathbow, the Angerbow, the Hohohobow" details a Gnostic interpretation of the Bible's Book of Revelation.

* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Many. Of note--the bulk of them are dead languages, often ones associated with old religious texts or, more recently, fallen empires.

* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Multiple; the most notable being Coptic, which he studies. Each line in "Falling" is translated into Japanese after it is sung/spoken.

* ProductionPosse: Several, the most famous comprising producer and artist Steven Stapleton and guitarist Michael Cashmore. Other major players include Douglas P., Tony Wakeford, flutist Joolie Wood, Rose [=McDowell=], James Blackshaw, and Andrew Liles.

** John Balance's infamous phrase which opens ''All the Pretty Little Horses'', "Why can't we all just walk away?," was improvised.

* WeAllDieSomeday: Considering Tibet's predilection for apocalypse scenarios and Christian mysticism, this trope is entirely inevitable. There's even a song called, "Anyway, People Die".
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** "Maldoror Is Ded Ded Ded Ded" was considered for ''Thunder Perfect Mind'' but left off of it, as the album is already 79 minutes long.
** "The Seven Seals…" was to be part of ''Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre'', appearing after "Let Us Go to the Rose", but it didn't fit the thematic nature of the album. ''Of Ruine'' is still considered one of the finest Current 93 albums released despite this.

* PrecisionFStrike: Tibet rarely ever swears but when he does, it is masterfully used.
-->'''From "Ach Golgotha (Maldoror Is Dead)":''' "AND THEY WILL FUCK YOU, MALDOROR"
-->'''From Nature and Organisation's "Hooves":''' "And you slip in the shit you shat in yourself!"
-->'''From "The Inmost Light Itself":''' "And if I pointless arch / And spit whitenothings at the sky / Oh Bigboys—check it out: too fucking late."
-->'''From "I Dance Narcoleptic":''' "Well are you fucking saved? Or just from above? Baptized with salt? Was God on your tongue last twilight when the thunder hit and split your mind?"
* ProductionPosse: Several, the most famous comprising producer and artist Steven Stapleton and guitarist Michael Cashmore. Guitarists Douglas P. of Death in June and Tony Wakeford of Sol Invictus, flutist Joolie Wood and vocalist Rose [=McDowell=] were big players between 1987 and 1991.

* AndIMustScream: "Patripassian" quotes Blaise Pascal's idea that, by dying for our sins, Jesus is now condemned to "a garden of agony", alone on Earth, until the end of the world.

* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Multiple; the most notable being Coptic, which he studies.

* ApocalypseHow: Most of his works play with this trope in some way or another. Some, like ''Nature Unveiled'' and ''Black Ships Ate the Sky'' deal with demons and {{Eldritch Abomination}}s; others like ''The Inmost Light'' refer to a personal apocalypse.

* BasedOnADream: Multiple instances of this. ''Thunder Perfect Mind'' arose out of a dream Tibet had in which he and Stapleton presented copies of a new album to each other with the shared title.

* EldritchAbomination: The Black Ships.

* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Multiple, the most notable being Coptic, which he studies.

* {{Leitmotif}}: More often than not, vocal, but musical leitmotifs also appear in certain albums as well.
* LongRunner: He's never stopped releasing music since 1982. He once called Steven Stapleton (himself keeping {{Music/NurseWithWound}} going since 1978) the other permanent member of the group.

* TheStarsAreGoingOut: A recurring topic, be it in songs (''The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home'', ''The Seahorse Rears to Oblivion'') or in albums (''Black Ships Ate the Sky''.)
* ThrowItIn: He broke down sobbing partway through recording the vocals of "The Bloodbells Chime," after struggling to keep his composition. This take was kept in, with an alternate vocal take playing over it.
* VillainSong: His are some of the strangest.

* ApocalypseHow: Most of his works play with this trope in some way or another. Some, like ''Nature Unveiled'' and ''Black Ships Ate the Sky'' deal with demons and EldritchAbominations; others like ''The Inmost Light'' refer to a personal apocalypse.

* ApocalypseHow: Most of his works play with this trope in some way or another.

** ''In Menstrual Night'': Where dreams go when they die.

-->Don't give us no sass, or we'll kick your ass\\
For we're the heralds of Crowleymass!

* SelfBackingVocalist: In an interesting take on this trope, Tibet's multiple vocal takes are usually entirely different and do not match up when heard side by side.

* TheStarsAreGoingOut: A recurring topic, be it in songs (''The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home'', ''The Seahorse Rears to Oblivion'') or in albums (''Black Ships Ate the Sky'')

* ApocalypseWow: His end-of-the-world scenarios can get particularly bizarre or spectacular, from reality-destroying, malevolent boats to surrealistic displays brought about by angry dieties.

* ProductionPosse: Several, the most famous comprising Steven Stapleton and Michael Cashmore producer and artist Steven Stapleton, guitarists Michael Cashmore and Douglas P., flutist Joolie Wood and vocalist Rose [=McDowell=] will usually pop up on a release.

** ''Swastikas for Noddy'' was re-mixed in the studio as ''Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God''

The Subscriber Edition of ''Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain'' also contained alternate mixes of the album.

* LastNoteNightmare: Has appeared in several songs over the course of his career, including the creepier ones; occasionally with First and Full Note Nightmares.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Shows up in a sizable portion of his output. While many of these are vocal lines, ''Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre'' featured a guitar passage on three prominent songs.

* ProductionPosse: Several, the most famous comprising Steven Stapleton and Michael Cashmore producer and artist Steven Stapleton, guitarists Michael Cashmore and Douglas P., flutist Joolie Wood and vocalist Rose McDowell will usually pop up on a release.

** Released a few months after ''Black Ships Ate the Sky'' was ''Black Ships Eat the Sky,'' an alternate mix of the album which came in at a close second when it came to decide which mix of the album to release as ''...Ate the Sky.''

* SpokenWordInMusic: Quite a bit, usually from guest performers. Tibet's vocal delivery is entirely in sprechgesang ("spoken singing") and sprechstimme ("spoken voice"), which will half meet the requirements of this trope.
* SurrealHorror The Black Ship itself.
* TakeThat: "A Gothic Love Song" points its barbs at goths, or a goth in general, and their pretenses.
--> "I see all too clearly now / Why you should be discarded / And though I could pray for you / I probably shan't / Having had my cup filled up / With your lies and your makeup / You were nothing thinking you're something"
* TheStarsAreGoingOut: The concept behind ''Black Ships Ate the Sky''.

* GrowingUpSucks: "The Bloodbells Chime," which offers a good explanation why:

* IronicNurseryTune: Tibet is obsessed with [[NoddysToylandAdventures|Noddy]] and its nursery rhyme influence is present in all of Tibet's folk work.

* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Greek, Latin, Malay, and (most prominently) Coptic.

* ProductionPosse: producer and artist Steven Stapleton, guitarists Michael Cashmore and Douglas P., flutist Joolie Wood and vocalist Rose McDowell will usually pop up on a release.

** ''Swastikas for Noddy'' and ''Black Ships Ate the Sky'' were re-mixed in the studio as ''Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God'' and ''Black Ships Eat the Sky''. The Subscriber Edition of ''Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain'' also contained alternate mixes of the album.

* AndIMustScream

* GenreRoulette

* IronicNurseryTune

* LastNoteNightmare: Has appeared in several songs over the course of his career, including the creepier ones.
* {{Leitmotif}}: Shows up in a sizable portion of his output.

* MadOracle

* NewSoundAlbum: ''Imperium'' transformed Current 93's harrowing drones into psychedelic free-form jams and solidified Tibet's signature SpokenWordInMusic. It also introduced Current 93's signature neofolk sound, which wasn't embraced fully until ''Swastikas for Noddy'', two albums afterward.

For we're the heralds of [=CrowleyMass!=]

** The 2008 reissues of ''Nature Unveiled'', ''Dogs Blood Rising'', ''In Menstrual Night'', ''In Bar Maldoror'' and ''Dawn'' came with re-arranged re-mixes by Andrew Liles (at least in the limited edition versions.) The five mixes were collected in a vinyl-only box set called ''Like Swallowing Eclipses'', which also included Liles' mixes of ''I Have a Special Plan for This World'' and ''Faust''.
* RuleOfSymbolism

* SelfBackingVocalist

* SurrealHorror
* TheStarsAreGoingOut

* ConceptAlbum: Most of them.

** "Falling Back in Fields Of Rape" does this rather deliberately--"rape" is also an old term for rapeseed, also known as canola.x

* NewSoundAlbum: ''Imperium'' was his first folk album.

Hailing from England, Current 93 (Real name: David Tibet, né Bunting) is an experimentalist who has been actively recording since 1982. Originally releasing harrowing {{Industrial}} music. Tibet transitioned to a vein of Neofolk known as Apocalyptic Folk by 1988. He has worked with members of DeathInJune, {{Music/Coil}} and Music/ThrobbingGristle, as well as ThomasLigotti, Tiny Tim and Shirley Collins. Steven Stapleton of Nurse with Wound is also a regular collaborator, appearing on nearly every Current 93 release (and Tibet also regularly appears on Nurse with Wound releases.) Recurring themes of his work include religion (primarily esoteric offshoots of Christianity), mythology, philosophy and nihilism.

* LongRunner: He's never stopped releasing music since 1982. He once called Steven Stapleton (himself keeping Nurse with Wound going since 1978) the other permanent member of the group.

* ThrowItIn: At one point while recording the vocals of "The Bloodbells Chime," he struggled to keep his composition, then broke down sobbing mid-take. This was kept in, with an alternate take playing over it.
* VillainSong: His are some of the strangest.
* WordSaladLyrics: On occasion, such as "Passenger Aleph In Name."

* BasedOnADream: Multiple instances of this. ''Thunder Perfect Mind'' arose out of a dream Tibet had in which he and Stapleton presented .

* BasedOnADream: Multiple instances, including an entire album.

* CreepyChildrenSinging

* KidsRock