Band:	Current 93
Album:	Horsey
Style:	Dark ambient, Experimental, Neofolk, Post-industrial
Release date:	1990
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Diana (Comus cover From their "First Utterance" album)
02. The Dream Of The Corn
03. Tree
04. Broken Birds Fly I (Maldodor Waits)
05. Horsey
06. Broken Birds Fly II (Maldodor Wails)

During 1990 Current 93 in cooperation with Nurse With Wound and Sol Invictus released a triple LP, Current 93's LP was "Horse", consisting of "Diana", "The Death Of The Corn", "Tree" and "Horse". This attempt from three well-known acts of the neofolk scene became soon really difficult to be found since it was limited to 2000 copies and thus Tibet decided on re-releasing the "Horse" LP on CD under the name "Horsey", including two bonus tracks, "Broken Birds Fly" I and II.

Current 93 have always had a personal sound since their very beginning when they were moving in experimental/apocalyptic folk/industrial soundscapes, a part of their identity they started leaving behind in order to express themselves in a more direct, neofolk-oriented way, with Tibet being the mastermind, composer, poet and actor/interpreter behind this non-compromising band.

"Horsey" is a remarkable release and what should someone expect from this album is lyricism and paranoia, dreams and nightmares, sanity and insanity, with all these elements balancing on a very thin line that seems to be breaking many times, with paranoia consuming the listener with all this distressing atmosphere. I really can't imagine what could have happened if this line had broken totally while Current 93 were composing this album. Just listen to "Horsey" from beginning to end and you will deeply understand what I mean.

A variety of instruments is there, from the violin to the acoustic guitars, from the "heavier" guitar riffing and pulsating bass lines to the piano and the synth-born atmosphere-evoking melodies, the noisy and nightmarish FX to the ritual-like drumming/percussion and others. Every single instrument adds, in its very own way, to the overall darkened and esoteric insanity of Current 93's atmosphere, an insanity rising from the distressing and twisted interpretation of Tibet.

I wish I could pick some highlights, but the album has been composed to flow as one, unfolding its esoteric chaos to the listener's world. Every song plays its role and you lose yourself in the distressing from-calmness-to-lunacy aesthetic of the two "Broken Birds Fly" parts, in the devout and obscure tranquility of "The Death Of The Corn" with Tibet haunting the listener with his reciting voice and in the 9-minute flowing insanity of "Diana", in which the intensity of the atmosphere grows and grows as minutes pass by with Tibet losing control in the end. I shouldn't forget the utterly twisted and in dismay lying "Tree" and "Horsey" with the noise FX and sounds flowing in the air concealing all tranquility, the guitars playing their role (especially on "Horsey" where they have a rock-oriented approach), making the atmosphere even more disharmonic, and the rhythm section helping into evoking an intense sense of suspense, with Tibet reaching the borders of insanity once again.

"Horsey" is a remarkable release, the fans of the band either have it or they must check it for sure, all the others can check first albums like "All The Pretty Little Horses", "Thunder Perfect Mind" or "Soft Black Stars" and cherish "sane" poetic/emotional/romantic neofolk soundscapes.