Who spared whom the least in Throbbing Gristle is something the camps are still arguing about decades later. One thing is certain, however: The English industrial band that succeeded in making the impoverishment of the British social system and then also neoliberal exploitation palpable first had to die in 1981 so that something new could emerge. On the one hand, there was the couple who made electronic history as Chris & Cosey, and on the other hand there was Genesis P-Orridge, who created the driving force of post-industrial with Psychic TV.
Together with their best friend, Peter Sleazy Christopherson, who was already drumming for Throbbing Gristle, P-Orridge »drifted« into a group constellation that was often described as a cult-like community, relentlessly exploring the boundaries of the occult. Drawing on references to Alistair Crowley and H.P. Lovecraft, but also to Charles Manson and similar dropout aberrations, the sound that emerged was as dense as the smog over Beijing. Tortured screams, pounding beats, LFOs running amok, free improvisations and ritualistic dares – somewhere between total rock and proto-techno, Psychic TV explored the boundaries of madness at this live gig. The fact that the record is largely based on Genesis and Paula P-Orridge’s pagan-Nordic-mythological wedding ceremony would otherwise be newsworthy and merely forms a footnote here.
