Warm, delicate, fuzzy. Some of the best in shoegaze.
Production and feel of the closer is underrated.

The middle is a victim to mediocre alto saxophone rambling. Occasionally overblown tone, even at piano dynamics. Song 1 and 4 strike a much better balance

There is some genuinely beautiful atmosphere, instrumentation, and composition on this album, but unfortunately it's bloated with overproduced progressions within individual songs that crowd and dampen the emotion during climaxes and back halves.

CASPER is a pretty incredible closer, truly enveloping the listener in a storm. Quite a few memorable dynamic moments throughout the album, including the intro, closer, and I DREAM ABOUT SINKING. The rest is kinda generic or has mild deliveries. ... read more

"Stay Here", having a unique, dark, and groove-laden experimental sound, had me fairly excited to dive deeper into this release. Unfortunately, whilst a few other songs maintain an interesting groove, the album consists mostly of dark rhythmic repetitions that barely feel musical. It has a unique atmosphere but I feel no strong urge to listen again. Could be useful inspiration for art with feelings of hopelessness and "filth"

Favorites
Stay Here (85)
Weakling ... read more

Absolutely massive sound and tone. Best experienced when turned up as much as possible. I felt my speakers cry in agony as they seemed to want to explode. I wish it had better, more interesting songwriting but doom is for the vibes so it's okay. I also don't care for the minimal vocals which only serve to add a tiny nuance of psychedelic feel. Had lots of potential but spends its time on singular ideas for far too much of its runtime.

Favorites
Empress Rising (85)
Audhumbla ... read more

Good fun, but it lacks standout moments and memorable musical ideas. Pretty monotonous until a breakdown appears. Any orchestral moments feel half-assed or feel like an afterthought.

Favorites
Mechanical Chaos (78)
Apocalypse Canvas (75)

Misc.
Heaviness Level: 7/10
Hand Sweatiness: 4/10

A truly disturbing breakdown, both mentally and musically.

Take a break and watch some bugs. This is incredibly relaxing and cute. I like ambient but most of the genre is characterless. This, on the other hand, brims with life and personality.

Favorites:
Dandelion Sailing (85)
Imomushi Crawl (80)
Dewdrop (80)

Best during its noisiest and more sinister moments

Best of:
Cinderella (80)
Ring Road (75)

A good song followed by a train of generic-sounding, empty-feeling, radio-friendly, and sometimes incomplete tracks. Incredibly disappointing way to structure an album

Best of:
NEVER ENOUGH (75)
BIRDS (65)

Crisp production and satisfying technicality. Unlike most tech-death, some emotion manages to survive in the technical blender.

Best of the bunch:
Xenotaph (85)

Took some time for me to immerse in, but I was pleasantly surprised by the experience. I don't think it's anything amazing. The ideas are sparse but the soundscapes have enough character to have me wanting more, and I truly wish more had happened.

Best of the bunch:
(Rope) Away - (75)
Birthing - (70)

This is my first Swans Album. If you are a fan of Swans, which release should I dive into next?

The most obnoxious, overproduced, overhyped shit I've heard this year. At least the bass thumps sometimes, still generic tho. I want to forget this head-slamming-on-a-soundboard-nonsense ASAP, hopefully I don't drop a glass cup anytime soon

Celestial (The tower) is an excellent start, everything after is middling, boring, or just annoying

I gave the original mix a 60 for having some great moments, you just had to slug through some increasingly monotonous songs. The indelible edition improves the guitar tones and drum impact by a nice magnitude. I mean just listen to the bass tone on the Broken Cog riff, it sounds absolutely filthy. The remaster gave me some more meat to look forward to during the more mundane moments, grateful for the new sound on this

Masterful use of tension and release. I have never felt such cathartic release as I have during the unison sections that pop up throughout the LP. The buildup of extreme tension and the subsequent pattern-finding that follows is therapeutic to the mind. Together these bands have created something more than the sum of their parts.

Sounds cool overall. Percussion is servicable but feels uninteresting over a 50 minute runtime. With a name such as "Ascension", I was expecting more peaks. Instead, this LP feels surprisingly monotone. I think Mirar is missing something, which is more apparent on a full-length release. Also disappointed that the grandness introduced in Couronne is never brought back during the rest of the album. It could've pushed the LP forward with a bit more identity. Stylisticly extreme but ... read more

This is how it feels to live in Arizona. I have never felt such thick heat emanate from an album. On repeat constantly but I will retire it soon because sub-100 degree days are almost here. In fuckin October.

Compact brutality. Love how short this is, no wasted time, feels good to keep replaying it.

It's alive and breathing