Mighty in Sorrow: A Tribute to David Tibet & Current 93

by Jordan Krall (Editor), Thomas Ligotti, Joseph S. Pulver Sr.

A literary tribute to a true visionary. David Tibet has been a poet, artist, and musician for over 30 years and has influenced countless other musicians, artists, and authors. In this anthology, those who have been influenced by Tibet and Current 93 try to repay this debt in literary form. Authors include Thomas Ligotti, Joseph Pulver Sr., Daniel Mills, Michael Griffin, Robert M. Price and lots more.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Music, Anthologies, Fiction, Weird Fiction

344 pages, Paperback

First published March 14, 2014

About the author

Books include:

TENTACLE DEATH TRIP
FISTFUL OF FEET
MOTEL MAN
KING SCRATCH
BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE APOCALYPSE DONKEYS
PIECEMEAL JUNE
SQUID PULP BLUES
NEWLY SHAVEN SAINT
UNFRUITFUL WORKS
PRELUDE TO SPACE RAPE!
SQUID KILLS
THE PISTOL BURPS
ALL POEMS MUST DIE
FALSE MAGIC KINGDOM
BAD ALCHEMY
THE GOG AND MAGOG BUSINESS
YOUR CITIES, YOUR TOMBS

Reviews

[Sirensongs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darkness. Light. Chaos. Apocalypse. Cats. False Christs and Real. False Prophets and Real. Crooked Crosses. Apocryphal Texts. Noddy. Baal. Aleister Crowley. Obscure Vinyl. Dissonance. Beauty in Ugliness. Sorrow. Loss. Redemption. Puppets. Graves. Foreign Towns in Foreign Lands. Jim Morrison. Journeys to Eternity and Nowhere. Soft Black Stars. Monochrome and Technicolor. Flowers. Corruption. Nihil. Nihil. Nihil. Alpha and Omega. And On and On and On...

These are some of the concepts which are brilliantly encompassed in this most sublime of tribute anthologies to the incomparable musical entity known as Current 93. Reading this collection has altered my mind, much as being exposed to David Tibet has, on both a spiritual and molecular level. I confess, the past few years I have been a little skeptical about the doings of Mr. Tibet. Why must he release his albums in myriad limited editions? Why announce items that his followers will have to wait for years for, if not indefinitely? But MIGHTY IN SORROW has reminded me of how much there is to admire in the complexity and artistry of David Tibet. And I admit it: I am blatantly envious of him. He throws himself entirely into his art and his passions. He explores things to the fullest and beyond. He abounds with energy and inspires a type of worship amongst the most devout of his followers. And he seems to do this all so effortlessly. His mind is overflowing with art and ideas that he spews forth into the world, and in so doing, enriches it, and even subtly changes its structure. David Tibet is a powerful man. And yes, I envy him, but I also admire him, and am grateful for everything he has brought into my own realm of existence. We'll never cross paths, but perhaps we are both flowing at opposite ends of the same cosmic river, and that is enough.

But I digress. This is supposed to be about MIGHTY IN SORROW, not just about David Tibet. Of course, the two are inextricably linked. Jordan Krall has done a phenomenal job of selecting stories that truly capture the complexities and mufti-facetedness, the strangeness, the beauty, the majesty and the sometimes seemingly arbitrarily nonsense displayed by the works of David Tibet and Current 93. There was not one piece in this anthology that did not move me, that did not give me some sort of existential frisson, that failed to leave it's mark upon my psyche. This is a powerful book, perhaps even a dangerous book. If you are receptive to it, it just might rewire some of your synapses. I know I was as open as I could be, and so was bestowed with many catharses and even some mild epiphanies. I know that if I took more time, read things more thoroughly, I would have gotten even more from these stories. That's the type of book this is: multi-layered and teeming with hidden meanings, much like the music of Current 93. But I had to rush my way through these stories, I was enjoying them that much, and they flowed ever so smoothly. I couldn't stop. I'm bleary eyed this morning because I just had to finish this last night. But I plan to one day re-visit these stories, and truly hope that I get around to it (best of intentions, etc.). I also need to go back and listen to more Current 93. It's been awhile, and this book has made me nostalgic for those days when I was discovering the aural universe of David Tibet. At the time, it was all so new and different to me. I still don't think there is a comparable band out there, regardless of how many musicians Mr. Tibet has influenced.

A few of these stories completely blew me away, namely Joseph Pulver's "when the twilighttwilight of nihil.nihil chimes…", James Champagne's "The Withering Echo" and of course, Thomas Ligotti's "In a Foreign Town, In a Foreign Land". Admittedly, I have read the latter two before, but they are still brilliant, and it was interesting to read them in this context. I also greatly enjoyed the contributions by Michael Griffin, Ross E. Lockhart, Nicole Cushing, Ian Delacroix, Neal Alan Spurlock, Jayaprakash Satyamurthy and Robert M. Price. But truly, in my opinion, there was not a weak contribution in the whole table of contents. I highly recommend this collection, not only to fans of Current 93, but also to fans of strange and innovative fiction in general. Thank you to all the writers for altering my state of consciousness so transcendentally, to Jordan Krall for initiating and editing this entire project, and most of all to David Tibet for inspiring all this dark wonder.

[David Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my APRIL BORROW from the Kindle Library through PRIME. I had no idea what David Tibet/Current 93 was going in and just had to enjoy and read the stories for what they were -- thoughtful, surreal, and existential pieces of literature that defy many common descriptions.

Even though I gave it four stars I still recommend it, it only gets the small ding in the score because I sometimes found a story left me scratching my head. It's very possible I don't get it or something.

Editor Jordan Krall did a great job here and the book looks great.

[John Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

It finally happened. A combination of 2 of my most beloved things; weird fiction and Current 93.
As a long time fan of the Industrial/folk/drone/everything band I was overjoyed to see many of my favourite writers also shared my appreciation, and this book is a wonderful tribute.

Pulver's story in particular shone. I just love his cut/paste style of narrative. And James Champagne, who I was not previously familiar with, included a fantastic tale (even if some of the names were a little silly).

All in all, highly recommended.

[Vicente Ribes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spanish Review
Siendo un seguidor de Current 93, me interesó esta compilación de historias. Descubrí la banda mientras buscaba música para escuchar mientras leía a Ligotti y otros autores. La música de la banda encaja perfectamente con este tipo de literatura y me abrió un nuevo mundo porque también descubrí otras bandas como In Gowan Ring, Sol Invictus o Backworld.
Me encantó la idea de un tributo a la música y las ideas de David Tibet, pero esta compilación no es lo suficientemente buena. Tiene cuatro grandes historias, pero el resto de los autores no estaban demasiado inspirados.
Disfruté particularmente:

THE SUFFERING CLOWN por Nicole Cushing: Una historia fantástica y espeluznante sobre un payaso en una atracción en la carretera.

De cualquier manera, la gente muere por Neal Alan Spurlock: Un joven artista comienza a ver su rostro en todo el mundo.

MOURN NOT THE SLEEPLESS CHILDREN por Bob Freeman: Niños pequeños que desatan el apocalipsis después de un ritual en una antigua casa victoriana.

THE WITHERING ECHO de James Champagne: Un chico encuentra un disco de música antiguo con una especie de música ritual satánica. Él se fascina y va a una vieja iglesia para aprender un poco más sobre ella.

EN UNA CIUDAD EXTRANJERA, EN UNA TIERRA EXTRANJERA por Thomas Ligotti. Uno de los mejores cuentos de este maestro del horror.

Maravillosa portada.

English Review
Being a follower of Current 93 I was interested in this stories compilation. I discovered the band while I was searching music to listen while reading Ligotti and other authors. The music of the band fits perfectly with this type of literature and it opened me a new world because I also discover other bands such as In Gowan ring, Sol Invictus or Backworld.
I loved the idea of a tribute to David Tibet's music and ideas but this compilation is not enough good. It has four great stories but the rest of the authors were not too inspired.
I particularly enjoyed:

"THE SUFFERING CLOWN" by Nicole Cushing: A great and creepy tale about a clown at a roadside attraction.

ANYWAY, PEOPLE DIE by Neal Alan Spurlock: A young artist starts to see his face in everybody.

MOURN NOT THE SLEEPLESS CHILDREN by Bob Freeman: Young kids unleashing the apocalypse after a ritual at an old Victorian house.

THE WITHERING ECHO by James Champagne: A guy finds an antique music disc with a sort of satanic ritual music. He becomes fascinated and goes to an old church to learn a little more about it.

IN A FOREIGN TOWN, IN A FOREIGN LAND by Thomas Ligotti. One of the best tales of this master of horror.

Amazing cover artwork.

[rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this just on the title and cover without knowing much. It's all short fiction in the more "apocalyptic" style (read: Xtian, but negative as hell) of D. Tibet's music, though none of it, other than "The Withering Echo," actually mentions C93 or anything w/ Tibet. That story is one of the less abstract pieces here, and a good story about a long lost psychedelic record (a bit of a bias for me; loved th setup).

No spoilers but the stories are mostly good. Some great. Anything with a title that "loooks.liKE.nihil.THis." can be skipped over without missing much (I refuse to accept the J Pulver story has ANYTHING going for it). The prose stories usually have a Xtian theme to them. The poetry usually doesn't.

Another reviewer already pointed out how Ian Delacroix's "The Man of the Crosses" is the stand-out winner here. It is really, really good and if Thomas Ligotti didn't exist in the collection it would shine so bright as to make the lesser stories look none too like pretty little horsies. It seemingly has every bit of mysticism and iconography that C93 attached to greats like Thunder Perfect Mind and Swastikas for Noddy. Ligotti's piece is named after a lyric from the song "Fields of Rape" but other than a few spoken words of character dialogue the comparisons stop (though I do think the two are friends and exchange thoughts and words often; the similarities between them in the past are too numerous to be chance). "In a Foreign Town" is one of the longest pieces too, and Ligotti can write like a combination of Poe and Melville when he's really on and the parade scene from this may give me nightmares in the future.

DP Watt's story has the best use of cats in the collection (fans will understand this is important) and Freeman's tale of Aleister Crowley playing all four ghostbusters has a damn good ending. Lockhart's "A Garden of Cucumbers" directly involves itself with Tibet's savior. I liked it and read it twice.

The most curious piece is "Whistler's Gore" from Daniel Mills. Not poetry nor prose, but a collective of written tombstone markers(?) in 19th century Plymouth, VT. As individual death pieces they would seem lengthy so I think there is a narrative at work, though it's hard to decipher, moreover not important: the etches of those from the past, of the past, fiction or not, seem to hold a certain weight with how they are perceived both through the Xtian worldview (that of marking cause and effect as justice served; the subjective) and that of the objective, dates of birth and death. Sound appropriate? Oh yes, and even individually they would probably work as short-shorts. Together they seem to peer into the lower umbra of consciousness; the Id and it's cruelty, David's playground. This is the one piece that feels most like the (purposefully, not so purposefully) antiquated mystification of the poetry Tibet borrows from so much of life (as constant companion and musicman Andrew Liles notes in the foreward) to use over instrumentation.

For decades Tibet has worked from dissonance to Harmony (named Shirley) and accrued loads of baggage that he unveils to the world thru his musics, and in doing so acquired many types of fans. This collection would probably have something for both Dogs Blood Rising purists & the more folky types unaware of *that* period. All in all a great collection. Please bring Ian Delacroix's Italian works to the English reading world, someone.

[Dustin]

This is a truly stellar review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't recall the last time I read a book with so many grammar mistakes in it. Was the editor just asleep at the wheel? I found myself during a few stories mentally correcting or re-writing what was written. Not a good sign. Obviously, quite a few of these stories could have used a few more re-writes. The stories weren't all bad, but quite a few were less than satisfying. The longer stories tended to be a bit better. Some of the stories would start out strong and then be marred by a writer that seemed not to know how to end it or would end it in a rather obvious or cliche way. It's a shame - because it could have been so much better. Still, it was an easy read for the most part and I didn't give up on the next story being interesting(even if just in parts). The Thomas Ligotti Story was the best in the collection(and it had typos in it as well). The Joseph Pulver story was the only one I was tempted to skip over. I didn't, but I still found it annoying and, well, boring. I wish some of the writers had sought to have an affinity with Current 93/David Tibet more than just name dropping or borrowing certain phrases from songs, etc. When I'd run across obvious lines or references to Current 93 it'd take me out of the story.

[Harry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ligotti couldn't save it. Most of the stories are pretty bad I'm afraid.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jordan Krall (ed.), Mighty in Sorrow: A Tribute to David Tibet and Current 93 (Dynatox Ministries, 2014)

If you're a fan of British Dark Folk band Current 93, you don't need me to tell you you need this book. This isn't a review for the established fans; this is one for the folks who may not have ever heard of C93, or its brilliant, insane, workaholic, polymath of a frontman, David Tibet. Tibet is a man of wide-ranging, often obsessive interests, from the mundane (Enid Blyton's relentlessly optimistic elf Noddy, Louis Wain's cat portraits) to the dangerously “evil” (the works of Aleister Crowley and Byron Gysin). All of which makes his music endlessly fascinating, once you've developed a taste for it. More to the point, it serves as the broadest of launching pads for a literary tribute. Tribute albums come out all the time, with other, usually lesser, bands covering the work of the masters. When's the last time you heard of a tribute book to a musician? The rarity of the concept alone should draw you in.

I can't remember the last time—if ever—I came across an anthology that isn't variable in quality. Mighty in Sorrow is no different, but I stress that this is a book that comes down heavily on the side of the angels. I've already thrown around very good words about the collection's centerpiece, excerpts from In a Foreign Town, In a Foreign Land, which Thomas Ligotti wrote in collaboration with Tibet during the nineties, and “Mourn Not the Sleepless Children”, Bob Freeman's tale that, coincidentally, I ran across in Burning Effigy Press' chapbook Fresh Blood just a few months ago. I've also thrown around good words about a few other writers who appear in this collection, though not about these specific pieces, Nicole Cushing (whose How to Eat Fried Furries is a bizarro treat) and Hyacinthe L. Raven (whose closing poem here is not quite up to the level of the work in her recent collection Seventy Times Seven, but it would be cruel of me to hold just about anything up to that level and expect it not to wilt). Of what is left, three new-to-me authors really stood out. Ross E. Lockhart's “A Garden of Cucumbers” is somber, middle Eastern, full of the mystic, the magic, and the mournful. James Champagne's “The Withering Echo” is the most musical story in the collection, and perhaps the one that cleaves most closely to the spirit of Thomas Ligotti (who, in my head, is somewhat inseparable from Tibet); a chap obsessed with a sixties psychedelic rock band travels to their hometown and finds out far more than he expected to. The real winner of the collection, however, is one Ian Delacroix. I have never heard of Ian Delacroix before. He seems to be Italian; in any case, the only book Amazon lists by him as of this writing is in Italian, Il Grande Notturno, and costs sixty bucks used. But isn't that a title that says “buy me now!”? And after you've read “The Man of Crosses” (a title that puts me more in mind of C93's labelmates Sol Invictus than it does Tibet and co., but I'm not complaining), you, too, may well consider trying to learn Italian just so you can pay sixty bucks for this book.

As for the... less compelling...work to be found here, I won't say it's bad. But it doesn't hold a candle to the best work here. (Rule of thumb: if the title is all in lowercase, proceed with caution.)

I will stress again, however, that the number of pieces in this book that won't make you wonder why it took you so long to buy this book is far smaller than the number of pieces that will. Sometimes creepy, sometimes funny, sometimes enlightening, always intriguing, Mighty in Sorrow is a collection that will have you wanting to hunt down more work by a number of the artists therein; that is never a bad thing at all. *** ½

[Gaze Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good collection of stories and poems inspired by David Tibet and Current 93. Recurring themes of ancient texts and Gnosticism and cats abound. Most of the writing that comprises this anthology is strong and evoke feelings of ancient secrets and dark gods. As a fan of Current 93 myself, it was very interesting to see what other people get out of his work, and I resonated with some more than others. My personal favourite would have to be "The Withering Echo" by James Champagne. It had the right balance of factual and fantastical elements that made me question the existence of the St.Dajjal Cathedral. Nicely done! Some other big names also make an appearance with stellar results. Robert. M Price, Joseph Pulver Sr., and Thomas Ligotti being among them. I'm usually fond of Pulver's stuff, but in this case I found it overly florid in his hero worship of David Tibet. This is of course, just my opinion. Overall, a fun read.