Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre

Durtro 018CD, 1994, Running time: 49:43

Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre
  1. A Voice from Catland - 00:19
  2. Steven and I in the Field of Stars - 02:54
  3. The Teeth of the Winds of the Sea - 07:13
  4. Moonlight, You Will Say - 05:17
  5. Into the Bloody Hole I Go - 00:58
  6. The Darkly Splendid World - 00:49
  7. The Cloud of Unknowing - 07:25
  8. Let Us Go to the Rose - 05:14
  9. All the World Makes Great Blood - 03:53
  10. The Great, Bloody and Bruised Veil of the World - 04:15
  11. Into the Menstrual Night I Go - 01:12
  12. Dormition and Domninion - 06:17
  13. So: This Empire is Nothing - 01:06
  14. This Shining Shining World - 02:49

For me, this is one of Current 93’s best albums ever. In the liner notes, David Tibet states that all the songs should be regarded as one piece, and that’s exactly what this album is: a single long folk-ish song. Some people are put off by this (citing the lack of variation between songs), but personally, I really like the cohesiveness of it; there’s a definete story being told here. In some ways, the album is almost a spiritual journey; it contains significantly less religious iconography (at least lyrically) than many of their albums, but I get a very strong sense of spiritualism from this work. It’s a very depressing album, but ends on a suprisingly positive note. The music is mostly quiet, subtle folk, the majority of it (I suspect) by Michael Cashmore. It’s not as lush and varied, or as epic as Thunder Perfect Mind, but is rather a more quiet, personal experience. The vocals, music, and lyrics are all excellent. Lyrics are printed in the liner.

A VOICE FROM CATLAND is simply a woman’s voice reciting a short verse by Louis Wain.

STEVEN AND I IN THE FIELD OF STARS begins the album with Cashmore’s lovely acoustic guitar (sounding almost baroque) and Tibet’s vocals over.

With THE TEETH OF THE WIND OF THE SEA, the album begins to shift into a rather depressing theme, one of loss and suffering and (of course) death. Beautiful and sad.

And continuing with the depressing theme, MOONLIGHT, YOU WILL SAY. Musically, it’s a little more active than the previous tracks, and Tibet’s vocals are supplemented in the second half by a woman (Phoebe Cheshire).

INTO THE BLOODY HOLE I GO is a short, ghostly piece with guitar, eerie background sounds, and Tibet’s lovely and depressing vocals.

Another short piece, THE DARKLY SPLENDID WORLD is acoustic guitar and Cheshire’s vocals. The guitar music is from IMPERIUM V, which appeared on Hitler as Kalki.

Probably the most depressing piece on the album is THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING. A very slow and eerie song, containing a brief HITLER AS KALKI reference.

The lyrics in the first part of LET US GO TO THE ROSE are sung, in French, by Tibet and Cheshire. The second half is Cheshire reading a text by Louis Wain, which I think is a conceptual turning point in the album. From here, the album starts getting more and more positive (yet still retaining a note of melancholy).

Slightly more upbeat is ALL THE WORLD MAKES GREAT BLOOD.  Most of the lyrics are in English, but a few are in French.

THE GREAT, BLOOD AND BRUISED VEIL OF THE WORLD is rather an emotional song, sad and lovely.

INTO THE MENSTRUAL NIGHT I GO is another brief song featuring Cheshire’s vocals.

One of the most positive and revelatory songs on the album is DORMITION AND DOMINION, which is somewhat of a climax to Tibet’s musically spiritual journey.

I really like SO: THIS EMPIRE IS NOTHING, mostly for it’s quiet simplicity.  It’s short but extremely powerful.

And finally, THIS SHINING SHINING WORLD makes an extremely beautiful end to one of Current 93’s best albums. The music is a reprise of THE DARKLY SPLENDID WORLD (which, in turn, was from IMPERIUM V).

No epilogue.