Emblems: The Menstrual Years

Durtro 016CD, 1993, Disc 1 running time: 76:29, Disc 2 running time: 73:00

Emblems: The Menstrual Years

DISC I (GREAT BLACK TIME)

  1. Great Black Time I (excerpt) - 03:02
  2. Falling Back in Fields of Rape (excerpt) - 05:01
  3. Only Shadows of Hooks (excerpt) - 06:44
  4. Ach Golgotha: The Mystical Body of Christ in Chorazaim (excerpt) - 08:11
  5. Sucking Up Souls (excerpt) - 06:23
  6. The Breath and the Pain of God - 09:20
  7. Imperium I - 06:07
  8. Imperium II - 05:48
  9. Diana - 07:56
  10. The Ballad of the Pale Christ - 05:42
  11. Great Black Time II (excerpt) - 03:23
  12. Great Black Time III (excerpt) - 02:52
  13. Happy Birthday Pigface Christus - 05:58

DISC II (MIGHTY IN SORROW)

  1. The Stair Song - 00:35
  2. Suzanne: She and I in Darkness We Lay and Lie - 04:26
  3. Maldoror is Ded Ded Ded Ded - 12:11
  4. Hooves - 04:24
  5. Oh Coal Black Smith - 04:45
  6. The Signs and the Sighs of Emptiness - 02:36
  7. Broken Birds Fly - 08:47
  8. Earth Covers Earth - 04:20
  9. They Return to Their Earth - 06:19
  10. Silence as Christine - 02:24
  11. Anyway, People Die - 07:04
  12. The Descent of Long Satan and Babylon - 03:10
  13. Our Lady of Horsies - 06:35
  14. In Sadness Sang - 04:05
  15. The Sadness of Things (excerpt) - 01:17

This 2-CD set is essentially a compilation of the music that David Tibet and Steven Stapleton consider to be Current 93’s best work between 1982 and 1992. As a nice bonus, it contains some previously-unreleased pieces. Lyrics are not included in the liner.

GREAT BLACK TIME I previous appeared on the CD version of Dawn.

The excerpt from FALLING BACK IN FIELDS OF RAPE is originally from Dogs Blood Rising.

ONLY SHADOWS OF HOOKS is from Live at Bar Maldoror.

ACH GOLGOTHA: THE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST IN CHORAZAIM is a combination of two songs (of the same titles) from Nature Unveiled.

From In Menstrual Night, SUCKING UP SOULS.

THE BREATH AND THE PAIN OF GOD previously appeared on Christ and the Pale Queens Mighty in Sorrow.

Tracks seven and eight, IMPERIUM I and IMPERIUM II are from Imperium.

DIANA is from Horsey.

Returning to Christ and the Pale Queens Mighty in Sorrow, THE BALLAD OF THE PALE CHRIST.

GREAT BLACK TIME II is also from the CD version of Dawn.

However, GREAT BLACK TIME III is from the vinyl edition of Dawn, and contains the “destruction” loop that was not included in the CD version.

The last song on Disc I is HAPPY BIRTHDAY PIGFACE CHRISTUS, which appeared on a single of the same name. A live version of it also appears on Looney Runes.  THE STAIR SONG first appeared on Swastikas for Noddy.

Track two is an unused remix of A LAMENT FOR MY SUZANNE, from the Thunder Perfect Mind sessions.  It’s quite similar to the version on the album.

MALDOROR IS DED DED DED DED is an unreleased piece from 1992. It’s essentially an acoustic (guitar and strings) rendition of the old familiar “maldoror is dead” theme. It’s actually a pretty good song, but Tibet’s vocals seem a little out of place on it (the high-pitched wailing works a lot better, I think, in a noisier environment than Current 93 has created with this song). So is Maldoror finally dead? Somehow I wonder…

The fourth track, HOOVES, is easily one of my favorite songs of all time. Lyrically, it’s based on the first half of HORSEY (from the album Horsey), but the music in this version is by the brilliant Michael Cashmore.  Tibet’s lyrics and vocals are perfect, and the music is unsurpassed. This is actually an unreleased Nature and Organisation song, and this CD is almost worth buying just for this piece.

OH COAL BLACK SMITH is from Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God.

THE SIGNS AND SIGHS OF EMPTINESS was released on the Current 93/Death in June split-LP “1888.”

Again from Horsey, BROKEN BIRDS FLY.

EARTH COVERS EARTH, obviously, is from Earth Covers Earth.

A delicate and strangely upbeat folk-style song, THEY RETURN TO THEIR EARTH was previously released on As the World Disappears….  I hear something new every time I listen to this piece; it’s really a wonderful and vaguely sweet recording.

SILENCE AS CHRISTINE is rather an interesting song, vaguely discordant and harsh. Lots of bizarre imagery here, being ranted by Tibet; he also writes several of his associates into the lyrics (John Balance, Steven Stapleton, Douglas P., etc). Cool song, though I’ve no idea what it’s really about.

ANYWAY, PEOPLE DIE is from the brilliant Island album.

Once again from Thunder Perfect Mind, THE DESCENT OF LONG SATAN AND BABYLON.

Track thirteen, OUR LADY OF HORSIES is previously unreleased.  It’s an upbeat, acoustic folk song recorded in 1992.

IN SADNESS SANG is a remix of A SAD SADNESS SONG, from Thunder Perfect Mind.

The final track, THE SADNESS OF THINGS, is an excerpt from the first Stapleton & Tibet album, The Sadness of Things.

No epilogue.