Current 93 – Imperium

I've got one other variant with matrix/run out DURTRO0008CD 10168921 04 & MADE IN U.K. BY PDO.
The cover and the cd are similar to this version

As an album, it's middling. "Alone" is one of C93's all-time greatest works. "Locust" is pretty good. The rest is a bit tedious. But it was an important transitional work for sure.

Current 93’s first masterpiece.

‘Locust’, ‘Or’ and ‘Alone’ are frightening in their apocalyptic intensity.

The title is taken from Francis Parker Yockey’s “Imperium,” a ponderous tome about how Jews are distorting Western culture. Very influential among the far right. Why David Tibet would take inspiration from such a text is a mystery in itself.

One of the most mystical, philosophical and poetic music albums about the vanity of human existence of all time.

I once defended amphetamine because it can be a potent inspiration for art. In retrospect I feel that this album was divine punishment for having made that statement.

If you enjoy Tibet's biblical-cum-occult rants, you will find plenty here. Some of it has emotional potency, some of it is cringe-worthy. The backing music (especially on the b-side, which is more conventionally musical) hasn't aged well, in my opinion. All together, I don't really enjoy this album.

It is, nonetheless, a fan favorite; so it could just be that many people enjoy the same things in this album that grate on me. Give it a try if you are devoted fan, if you are new to C93; look elsewhere.

It's not always easy to place the late '80s Current 93 albums into some sort of chronological narrative, although I think it's generally accepted that Imperium was the first step away from the group's earlier sound. Interestingly one of the very few C93 releases not to feature Steven Stapleton. I would imagine Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson was in charge of the sound design on the album.

The first side of the album consists of the four part 'Imperium' suite. The elements are similar to earlier albums, but the execution entirely different. The four pieces consist of slowed down traditional music, minimal electronics, and Tibet's vocal on top. The early harsh sound is gone entirely, however, replaced with a mournful ambience, and tenderly sung and whispered poetry from David Tibet: these are notably 'songs', as opposed to soundscapes. Tibet, histrionic as ever, found himself ill, and concluded he was going to die. The 'Imperium' suite finds him lamenting on the inevitability of death, and making some kind of peace with the Christianity his lyrics had once questioned more harshly (the previous single 'Happy Birthday Pigface Christus' a notable example).

The second side of the album is a different matter entirely, with Tibet bringing in Douglas P and Tony Wakeford of Death in June, and Coil's John Balance, to form a kind of post-punk / post-industrial hybrid that probably had some crossover potential at the time. Sadly, three of the four songs are simply far, far too long for their own good, extended to fit David's lyrics, but musically too repetitive to provide enjoyable listening. As the tracks all head towards six, seven, eight minutes, the patience wears very thin. The one exception is 'Be', a forgettable acoustic piece only remarkable for it being a very early example of the folk sound the Current 93 name would become most famous for in the coming years.

Imperium is very much an album of two sides: one a fascinating and beautiful evolution of the group's sound; the other an interesting curio, but also a creative dead end, and one that would not be explored further in the future.

imperium 1 to 4-music to slash your wrists to-marvellous.