One of the first things I did upon discovering the internet in college was use it to expand my musical horizons. That led me to numerous mailing lists and Usenet discussion groups. Chief among these was rec.music.christian, which as its name suggests, was a general forum where people discussed Amy Grant, and DC Talk alongside lesser-known alternative and underground acts. Upon joining the group, I immediately asked for any Christian artists similar to the goth artists that I was enamored with at the time, specifically 4AD acts like Dead Can Dance and This Mortal Coil. Which is how I discovered Liverpool’s Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus.

The name was immediately intriguing, and that was long before I knew that it was a reference to Luis Buñuel’s That Obscure Object of Desire (or even knew who Buñuel was). Of course, actually hearing the Army’s music was easier said than done. This was the mid ’90s, mind you, and (legal) streaming was not a thing. Which meant I had to actually buy their music, but even that proved difficult, and no one knew how to actually contact the band. I finally tracked down this compilation, which combined their first two albums along with an EP, on CDNow (an early online music seller).

Upon listening to the compilation, I had the all-too-rare and blessed experience of an album completely exceeding whatever expectations I might’ve had. Blending traditional European folk music, harsh noise, industrial rhythms, angelic vocals and chants, and obscure samples, the Army’s music was, in a word, transcendent. And also enigmatic. And otherworldly. And haunting.

The Army tapped into a vein of Christianity wholly unfamiliar to me, one entrenched in mysticism and contemplation. I grew up in a world of crackers and grape juice, of flannelgraph and mime routines. The Army’s world was one of bread and wine, candles and incense. Entering it was dark and harrowing, but never less than intriguing, and often rewarding with moments of beauty like “Come Holy Spirit,” “Transfiguration,” “Inmaculado,” and “Nostalgia.”

After disappearing into the shadows in the mid ’90s, which only helped to grow their legend, the Army resurfaced in 2015 with the excellent Beauty Will Save the World, and they’ve steadily released new albums ever since — each one building on the foundation that they laid down over 30 years ago with these seminal recordings.