Serving as an overview of the band's first ten years,
Emblems is a useful and quite extensive introduction to the unsettled world of
David Tibet and his many fellow travellers (notably
Steven Stapleton). Given the length of many of
Current 93's songs, including some side-long numbers from the vinyl days,
Tibet chose to edit down a number of selections to provide at least a taste of what he does for curious listeners. It may set the purists' teeth on edge, but balance is provided with the inclusion of many rare or unreleased tracks, including a slew from the
Thunder Perfect Mind sessions on the second disc. Technical details aside (though credit to both the extensive track details and
Tibet's own detailed thank yous and explanations),
Emblems makes for two and a half hours of plunges into dark art collage, fragile, religiously tinged folk and many other styles and sounds that owed little or nothing to the prevailing trends in the U.K.'s music through the '80s and early '90s. Of the more familiar cuts, an excerpt of "Falling Back in Fields of Rape," the two-part "Imperium," and the quietly apocalyptic "The Ballad of the Pale Christ" stand out on the first disc, "Oh Coal Black Smith" and the haunting, violin-touched "Earth Covers Earth" on the second. The rarities include their own treasures, such as the blunt but welcoming title of "Happy Birthday Pigface Christus," which matches the music, a reworking of "Silent Night" that leads into
Tibet's own sharper depiction of an untraditional Nativity. The lengthy "Maldoror Is Ded Ded Ded Ded," a slow, mournfully celebratory march, and the increasingly fierce, dramatic "Broken Birds Fly," which originally appeared on a compilation single and has one of
Tibet's most frenetic performances, are also worthy listens.