''Thunder Perfect Mind'' is an album by the English

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

group

Current 93 Current 93 are an English experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet, who has been Current 93's only constant member. Background Tibet has been the only const ...

, released on 28 July 1992. It contains two tracks based on the

Gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

poem ''

The Thunder, Perfect Mind "The Thunder, Perfect Mind" is a text originally discovered among the Gnostic manuscripts in the Nag Hammadi library in 1945. It follows a poetic structure, and has received scholarly attention for its gnomic style and unclear subject. Form Th ...

'', which also gave the album its name. ''Thunder Perfect Mind'' has a companion album by the same name recorded by Nurse With Wound, released at the same time, though the two albums have little in common with each other musically. The album is one of

David Tibet David Tibet (born David Michael Bunting; 5 March 1960) is a British poet and artist who founded the music group Current 93, of which he is the only full-time member. He was given the name "Tibet" by Genesis P-Orridge, and in January 2005 he a ...

's more personal records, with several songs dedicated to friends, colleagues and people he had met. "All The Stars Are Dead Now" consists of a startling prophecy given to Tibet in a dream by

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

, while the epic "Hitler As Kalki (SDM)" is dedicated to "my father, who fought Hitler." The liner notes indicate that some believed Hitler was

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exist ...

, the tenth and final incarnation of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

, who would destroy the cosmos upon a white horse at the end of each world cycle. Original pressings contained a portrait of David Tibet's face, while later pressings contained a drawing of a startled cat drawn by

Louis Wain Louis William Wain (5 August 1860 – 4 July 1939) was an English artist best known for his drawings, which consistently featured anthropomorphized large-eyed cats and kittens. Later in life, he was confined to mental institutions and struggle ...

. On its 2003 re-release, the cover sported Tibet's face again, though a second re-issue a year later on Durtro Jnana Records (due to World Serpent's sudden disappearance) featured a beige-toned pattern across the portrait. These later pressings included a bonus disc titled ''The Thunder, Perfect Mind'' which contained outtakes and alternate mixes of songs, as well as five live tracks recorded in Paris on December 15, 1990. All of the studio tracks save "Red House" and an acoustic version of "Anyway, People Die" had previously appeared on '' Emblems: The Menstrual Years''.

Track listing

All songs written by Current 93, except "When the May Rain Comes" (cover of the song "May Rain" by German experimental band Sand). # "A Beginning" – 0:44 # "The Descent of Long Satan and Babylon" – 3:00 # "A Sadness Song" – 4:14 # "A Song for Douglas After He's Dead" – 4:58 # "In the Heart of the Wood and What I Found There" – 2:50 # "Mary Waits in Silence" – 2:56 # "A Silence Song" – 5:27 # "A Lament for My Suzanne" – 4:20 # "Riverdeadbank" – 3:46 # "All the Stars Are Dead Now" – 9:06 # "Rosy Star Tears from Heaven" – 3:05 # "When the May Rain Comes" – 3:24 # "Thunder Perfect Mind I" – 5:05 # "Thunder Perfect Mind II" – 2:21 # "Hitler As Kalki (SDM)" – 16:28 # "A Sad Sadness Song" – 4:40 # "An Ending" – 2:21 (originally a hidden track)

''The Thunder, Perfect Mind'' (2003 bonus disc)

# "Suzanne: She and I in Darkness We Lay and Lie" – 4:26 # "Red House" – 0:28 # "Our Lady of Horsies" – 6:34 # "Anyway, People Die" – 1:46 # "Silence As Christine" – 2:24 # "Maldoror Is Ded Ded Ded Ded" – 12:10 # "They Return to Their Earth" – 6:18 # "In Sadness Sang" – 4:19 # "'Khor Ba'i Nyes Dmigs (Live)" # "Lament for Her (Live)" – 3:59 # "A Song for Douglas After He's Dead (Live)" – 6:14 # "They Return to Their Earth (for My Christ Thorn) (Live)" – 6:52 # "A Song for Douglas After He's Dead (Rebirth) (Live)" – 5:43

Personnel

* David Michael Tibet – vocals *

Steven Stapleton Steven Peter Stapleton (born 3 February 1957) is an English musician who is best known as the only constant member of experimental improv outfit Nurse with Wound. He is often seen as one of the pioneers of the British industrial music scene, a ...

– guitars, corrugations, vocals, smokes * James Mannox – percussion *

Douglas P. Douglas Pearce, known professionally as Douglas P (born 27 April 1956), is an English folk musician, record label owner, photographer and actor who is best known for his neofolk project Death in June. Pearce was born in Sheerwater in Woking, Surr ...

– guitars, hand percussions * Joolie Wood – violin,

tin whistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria. ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

Michael Cashmore Michael Cashmore is an English composer and musician currently living in Berlin. He has created music under the name of Nature and Organisation since the early 1980s and more recently (2006) under his own name. Cashmore was a member of the g ...

– guitars *

John Balance Geoffrey Nigel Laurence Rushton (16 February 1962 – 13 November 2004), better known under the pseudonyms John Balance or the later variation Jhonn Balance, was an English musician, occultist, artist and poet. He was best known as a co-founde ...

– vocals (track 11), backing vocals (track 10) *

Rose McDowall Rose McDowall (née Porter; born 21 October 1959) is a Scottish musician, forming Strawberry Switchblade with Jill Bryson in 1981. History McDowall was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1959. Her first venture into music was in the Poems, an art-pun ...

– vocals (tracks 3, 4, 8, 11, 12, and 15) * James Malindayne-Lafayette –

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

(tracks 4, 8, and 15) *

Nick Saloman The Bevis Frond is an English rock band formed in 1986 in Walthamstow, London, England. The band is fronted by Nick Saloman and has recorded many singles and albums on various independent labels. Information Saloman was originally in a band kn ...

– electric

dulcimer The word dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...

, acoustic and electric guitar (track 15) *

Sarah Bradshaw Sarah (born Sarai) is a Patriarchs (Bible)#Matriarchs, biblical matriarch and Prophet, prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her ...

– cello (track 7) *

Karl Blake Karl Blake (born 1956 in Reading, Berkshire, England) is a vocalist, bassist, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. Most of his own music can be described as progressive-experimental and sometimes psychedelic. Musical career Blake is most noted, ...

– bass (track 15) * Renate Birulf – vocals (track 9) *David Kenny – feedback guitar (track 15), harmonic guitar (tracks 4 and 8), bass (track 12) *

Edward Ka-Spel Edward Sharp, better known by his stage name Edward Ka-Spel, is an English singer-songwriter and musician, born in London on 23 January 1954, to a family with East Anglia connections. He is best known for his work with the band The Legendary Pin ...

– bells *

Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...

– voice (track 1)

References

{{Authority control 1992 albums Current 93 albums Durtro albums