Current 93 💫

 

In the shadow-drenched territories where apocalyptic vision meets ritualistic transformation, certain recordings emerge that function as portals to forgotten mystical realms. Before us is such a transmission - "Like Swallowing Eclipses", from England's most enigmatic occult collective Current 93, a bewildering exploration of how sacred texts can bloom into dark ambient invocations through the alchemical vision of Andrew Liles and David Tibet. This monumental 7CD + 7" collection channels the mystique of ritualistic grandeur through kaleidoscopic arrangements that dissolve and reform like ceremonial incense. Drawing from the same psychoacoustic territories explored by Nurse With Wound, these eighteen extended sonic invocations transform four decades of Current 93's most vital recordings into something approaching the transcendental. Absolutely essential for anyone drawn to the outer reaches of dark ambient reimagined as spiritual archaeology.

Current 93 "Like Swallowing Eclipses" (7CD + 7" Box Set with exclusive Audio Postcard Flexi Disc)

Some albums arrive like apocalyptic visions of sacred transformation, carrying the weight of ceremonial gravitas and the mystique of esoteric revelation half-remembered. "Like Swallowing Eclipses" is precisely such a collection - eighteen extended invocations that float between the ritualistic and the transcendent, where Andrew Liles' psychoacoustic sorcery wanders into territories that shimmer with dark ambient grandeur and visionary folk wisdom. This isn't just music - it's the sound of spiritual archaeology and mystical rebirth flowing into something timelessly sacred.

Conceived as a ritualistic re-engraving across four decades of visionary output, this collection represents the most ambitious sonic archaeology project in experimental music history. Liles' signature approach to extracting and amplifying the most disturbing and transcendent elements often detours into realms that feel both familiar and deliriously otherworldly, sparked by the same psychoacoustic mastery that defines Nurse With Wound's most transformative works. Each track carries the impression that just the wind through ancient trees would be enough soundscape for these sonic alchemists to create their woven patterns of dark revelation.

The collective surrounding David Tibet draws from source material spanning Nature Unveiled, Dogs Blood Rising, Nightmare Culture, Live at Bar Maldoror, In Menstrual Night, Dawn, I Have a Special Plan for This World and Faust - creating what can only be described as a maximalist fever dream that operates along an imaginary lineage stretching from the surreal chamber works of early industrial pioneers through Thomas Ligotti's cosmic horror literature to contemporary dark ambient masters who understand how apocalyptic vision and ritualistic transformation can coexist in the most haunting ways.

The extended compositions don't merely reimagine familiar material or nostalgic recreations - they wedge transformative experiences into the psyche, seeds of forgotten mystical worlds that still ring true in any seeker's cosmos. Like the finest work emerging from the underground territories where Nurse With Wound and Current 93 have long operated, this collection proves that the most profound sonic revelations often take root far from commercial constraints, in places where visionaries are free to develop their most singular expressions of the sacred and profane intertwined.

Now presented as "Master Monster" Liles' definitive statement on Current 93's foundational period, "Like Swallowing Eclipses" reveals layers of mystical detail that transform already powerful source material into something approaching the transcendent. Within dense tapestries of ritualistic sound - where psychoacoustic manipulation weaves through spectral textures - Tibet's apocalyptic narratives create an immersive ceremonial process that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant. This is dark ambient for people who understand that sacred transformation requires confronting the shadows, experimental music for those who remember what it felt like when every invocation could transport you to other planes of existence. Like witnessing a collective achieve their most visionary statement in real time, Current 93 weaves mystical revelation and ceremonial power into sonic forms that radically rethink what apocalyptic beauty might become - a profound collection of extended ritual invocations that shouldn't exist in our material world, but absolutely does.