Earth Covers Earth

Durtro 012CD, 1988, Running time: 68:17

Earth Covers Earth
  1. The Dilly Song - 01:41
  2. Hourglass for Diana - 06:44
  3. Earth Covers Earth - 04:24
  4. Rome for Douglas P. - 03:58
  5. Time Tryeth Truth - 04:26
  6. Hourglass for Rosy Abelisk - 03:13
  7. The Dilly Song - 01:09
  8. At the Blue Gates of Death - 06:17
  9. She is Dead and All Fall Down - 05:13
  10. God Has Three Faces Wood Has No Name - 02:57
  11. The Blue Gates of Death (Before and Beyond Them) - 08:35
  12. The Dreammoves of the Sleeping King:
    1. He Falls into Fields of Sleep
    2. The Dreamer Dreams a Dream - 19:40

Several people have described this album to me as being Current 93’s worst piece of work ever.  Well… There’s some good material on here, but I feel that the overall album is lacking in cohesiveness and theme. The sound is mostly discordant folk, but without the excitement and subtlety of their later works.  However, despite its flaws, it’s still very much worth owning.  There’s really nothing specifically bad I can think of to not recommend it, it’s just overall uninspired compared to their other work.  In other words, while it’s not a great album, it’s not a bad one either.  I wouldn’t recommend it as an introduction to Current 93, but the collector will definitely want to own it.  Most of the lyrics are included in the liner, but the majority of them were not written by David Tibet (being mainly from various dead writers).

The album begins with THE DILLY SONG, which starts with kind of a groovy sitar melody but is soon discordantly mixed with a woman’s singing of this traditional song.  Weird and a little unpleasant.

HOURGLASS FOR DIANA is a pretty decent folk-sounding song, complete with strummed acoustic guitar and violin.  I quite like David Tibet’s vocals in this piece, especially since they evidence the evolution of his vocal style away from screaming and more towards folk singing.

The title track, EARTH COVERS EARTH, is a nice piece featuring vocals, both spoken and sung, by a young girl.  The background music is mostly acoustic guitar and electronics, mixed with some rather pleasant violin melodies.

ROME FOR DOUGLAS P. is probably my favorite song on the album.  The lyrics were written and sung by Tibet (which should not be taken for granted on this album), and the piece has a melody and an energy that I really like.  The Douglas in the title, of course, is Douglas P. from Death in June, and who often collaborates on Current 93 albums (in fact, he’s a contributor on this very track and album).  Naturally, it’s a folk-style song (strummed guitar and violin, mostly), but also contains some interesting electronics and a bit of noise.

Track five, TIME TRYETH TRUTH, sounds a lot like the song EARTH COVERS EARTH (in fact, it could almost be constituted as a remix).  A young girl speaks over simple folk music, and is soon joined by Tibet doing more of the same.  Personally, I like the earlier version better.

HOURGLASS FOR ROSY ABELISK is mostly a young girl reading a text over an electronic buzz, with strange wailing in the background.  A little too artsy for it’s own good.

And once again, we’re back to THE DILLY SONG.  This version is substantially the same as the first one, but doesn’t include the sitar track (in fact, it’s acapella).  At least the piece is no longer as discordant.

AT THE BLUE GATES OF DEATH, David Tibet rejoins us for more vocals and his own lyrics.  More discordant folk, but unfortunately, it strikes me as uninspired.

SHE IS DEAD AND ALL FALL DOWN, while continuing in the same folk vein as the rest of the album, has some very ghostly background moans (wind sounds?) that are extremely eerie.  It’s subtle, so listen carefully.  According to Tibet, the lyrics were written by the poet Thomas Chatterton right before his suicide.

I’m not entirely sure what GOD HAS THREE FACES WOOD HAS NO NAME is about, but it has the dubious distinction of containing some of Tibet’s least inspired lyrics.  I suppose it’s an ok song, but it sounds substantially the same as the other songs on the album.

THE BLUE GATES OF DEATH (BEFORE AND BEYOND THEM) reprises the earlier AT THE BLUE GATES OF DEATH.  This version is actually a little more interesting than the previous, in that it adds some female vocals and slightly more convincing music, as well as rather more interesting vocals from Tibet.  Still, though, its really too long for it’s own good.

The final piece is conceptually divided into two parts; the full title, of course, is quite grand: THE DREAMMOVES OF THE SLEEPING KING: I. HE FALLS INTO FIELDS OF SLEEP II. THE DREAMER DREAMS A DREAM.  Despite the grandiose title, it’s really not much more than a remix of KILLYKILLKILLY (from In Menstrual Night), and containing elements of the old, familiar Maldoror concept.  The earlier version was better, and this piece really doesn’t fit in with the rest of the album.

Epilogue:  (David Tibet) “What is the world?  Nothing.  If it is nothing, why is it?  The world is as nothing.” (another voice) “Bend over!”