Idumea

I was brought up Methodist, so I'm no stranger to the hymns of Charles Wesley. They were littered throughout the United Methodist Hymnal. But one we never sang, and one I'm not even sure was in that hymnal, was Idumea. It's more of a Sacred Harp tune, and it makes sense a modern church wouldn't want to sing a hymn so existential and fixated on death. Too bad, because it's absolutely one of the loveliest tunes there is, and all that talk of worlds unknown, deepest shade and fiery skies could really appeal to a young boy obsessed with mythology. Oh well, the hateful giant organ in the sanctuary would have probably drowned out the singing, anyway.
Little could Mr. Wesley know that about 250 after he wrote the hymn, a Christian eschatologist who practiced magick (a member of the Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis) would construct an album around "Idumea." Nor could he imagine the song would be performed so wonderfully by a hermaphrodite, a stripper/porn actress, a faux hillbilly and the guy from Soft Cell. You have to be careful with David Tibet and Current 93, his judgment is sometimes questionable, but Black Ships Ate the Sky is definitely one of his best. Tibet got eight vocalists to sing "Idumea" and scattered their versions amidst original songs of his own. The album's about the apocalypse, more or less, continuing in the sort of Process Church-like vein of earlier works. It features some great music courtesy of Ben Chasny, John Contreras, William Basinski and lots of other folks. I can't overstate its beauty, even though I'm not always entirely sure what Tibet's going on about. (Sample lyric: "I have dug a candle as red as dung/And the dragonfly answers back/Hello monkey-paw!") He's on his own gnostic trip, and it looks like he's having a good time with it.