This is very much a step up from Slick Leg, and that's not just because it doesn't feel like it's over in a blip. This EP is basically just a much better Slick Leg.

The intensity is still really great, the riffs were really fun and the drumming is probably what made me like this EP the most. I still can't see myself putting it super high, this still feels like a bit of a demo and doesn't have much of the lasting impact a full length album would have.

For what it is ... read more

I don't have a whole lot to say considering this is basically just a first demo the band brought out, but I was honestly pretty suprised how much the intensity worked for me.

Fav tracks: Slick Leg

I definitely agree with people about this being Swans' best since The Glowing Man, though that doesn't mean this is comparable to the extremely high quality of the trilogy, more that they have finally made another album I would consider really really amazing (though leaving meaning. was close)

You can also see they have changed their sound up quite a bit with this album, possibly even more than I'm used to. It has the "big sound" qualities of the trilogy that leaving ... read more

When I was first listening to this album the first few times, I kept thinking to myself: "This really sounds like as if Heaven or Las Vegas was a lot more restrained, simple and quiet"

Well, imagine my surprise when it turns out members of Cocteau Twins actually helped Faye out with this album! It really just makes sense in hindsight.

Anyways, this is a beautiful treat of an album. Everything about it feels so compact and pretty, even the track amount and lengths feel clean. ... read more

Swans live does seem like something that's better truly experienced.

Since this album focuses so much on volume and intensity, I feel like it sacrifices a lot of cohesion, especially in the longer tracks. A lot of things feel a bit sudden and sometimes it's not even really melodic or rhythmic. Gira also seems to do more drawn out screaming rather than singing.

I know this is very much intentional, but when I'm not there to experience the intensity, it doesn't really hit ... read more

Even though The Beggar Lover (Three) did save this album a bit for me I still can't help but feel like this is a bit of a dud.

One thing I love about Swans is pretty much every album feels like their own thing and has a strong identity (with only a few exceptions like Greed and Holy Money). But apart from the aforementioned behemoth of a track, this album just doesn't really stick with me in any way.

It feels like it rehashes quite a few things, especially from Leaving Meaning, ... read more

This album is extremely underrated. I've said this about some Swans albums before but this is the one where I mean it the most. leaving meaning. seems to be pretty overlooked and considered a big step down from other albums in the post-rock Swans era, but I absolutely disagree.

Of course it's not up there with the trilogy, but this album is consistently beautiful, and shows a pretty big change in Swans' sound. Calmer, smoother, sounds that try to entrance you rather than ... read more

An interesting enough live album, but not something I would come back to all that often. I would just listen to all the studio versions compared to the live versions on here. Though The Knot is definitely the main highlight.

I notice there are some things that give this live album more of an identity. You often hear a wailing guitar that goes up and down in pitch as if a whirlwind was going over it. Long stretches of the same chord being powerfully beaten into the audience is popular here as ... read more

This album is a lot more slow paced compared to the previous two records. It conveys a much more mature and grounded style, and it’s definitely one of the most consistent Swans albums I’ve heard. Even though it doesn’t quite reach the highs that The Seer and To Be Kind have, I feel like this album works extremely well to finish the trilogy and serve as a goodbye to the lineup. It’s also probably more of a slow burn, the kind of album that really needs to take its time to ... read more

God, what is there to say about this record. It just feels so perfectly refined and intricate. I love how much more clean Swans’ production has become at this point, it really feels like you’re being overwhelmed by all sorts of rhythms and soundwaves. This album also feels really electrical, it’s hard to describe.

It’s honestly quite different from what I’ve been used to with Swans honestly, it’s a lot more danceable and energetic, having punchy drums, ... read more

This is probably the most occult Swans has ever gotten. Not only are there numerous thematic references to higher beings, nature and cosmic entities, but there are plenty of soundscapes and noise elements that emulate the vastness of space and utter randomness of nature.

I think this is what really sets it apart from most other Swans albums, while it’s definitely clear that reunion Swans is a lot more post-rock oriented, none of these albums (that I have heard so far) stray this far from ... read more

While obviously this album is very easy to overlook considering it comes after the insane finale of the original band with Soundtracks to the Blind and Swans Are Dead while also preceding the famed trilogy of The Seer, To Be Kind and The Glowing Man, I definitely wouldn’t call it a miss.

The best thing about this album is that it honestly sets up the sound Swans will be going for in their reunion very well, focusing more on clean, powerful soundscapes and more acoustic, soft instruments ... read more

There was quite a lot of stuff I really loved (Blood Promise and Feel Happiness definitely being the best of the new tracks) but as a project in its entirety it does mostly consist of highlights and not a full mind blowing experience. I found myself a bit bored sometimes but I also found myself blown away by some of these songs.

Soundtracks for the Blind is a behemoth of a record, and serves as the final, all-encompassing work of Swans. This is why it’s double the length of Swans’ already standard 1+ hour album length, and consists of recordings made all the way back from Swans’ first years. Not in the way of it being a compilation of songs they have made throughout the years, but rather a giant collage of excerpts from recordings (often also field recordings), with quite a few fully recorded songs ... read more

The Great Annihilator definitely feels like a bridge between Swans’ gothic rock period and the experimental abyss they dive into with Soundtracks for the Blind and most surrounding performances. The sound in itself is quite unique, it’s focused a lot on rhythmic and punchy drums along with a lot of reverb and more bass heavy songs.

Honestly, this album is just a masterpiece, it flows together extremely well and it is definitely one of the most packed Swans albums ever, having 17 ... read more

This is a bit of a weird one. I feel like it’s quite different from both Swans’ better albums, where they hit the mark, but also different from their weaker ones, because the weaker ones were either slow steps in their evolution or just a wrong step entirely. Love of Life really isn’t like that though.

It feels like most of the elements of a really great album are here, but it just doesn’t really hit as much. This is mostly because of a lack of direction and even a bit ... read more

I have no idea where to begin with this album, whenever I end up giving an album a 10 it is a process of me slowly realising how much I like it the more I listen to it. It is always terrifying and unexpected to feel myself placing an album higher and higher in my rankings with every listen, but it is for sure deserved here.

A big part of why I adore White Light from the Mouth Infinity so much is just how cohesive and thematically genius it is. Swans has clearly always been interested in big, ... read more

While I agree that Swans can do much better than this, The Burning World is an album that absolutely should not be written off. It’s a bit of a weird evolution from Children of God, being a lot more light and conventional, but it still sounds really great and would serve as an especially great transitional album to White Light from the Mouth of Infinity. I really love the sound palette on this record, very clear and jangly guitars, occasional use of bongos and even violins (violins being ... read more

This is basically a basement version of Children of God. It’s much more noisy and gloomy (which makes sense considering it’s live recordings from the 80s) which gives the whole record a new vibe. Some tracks are improved and carry more power with them thanks to the noisy recordings, like “New Mind” and “Like a Drug”. Other songs actually feel a bit more lacking because they are more stripped down thanks to certain limitations of live play, or even just ... read more

Now this is where we’re really getting started. This is the first Swans record so far where I can really see a narrative, a cohesive theme throughout the album. They’re also kind of letting go of that purely aggressive and dark themes from previous records, adopting more traditional song structures and instrumentation, the overall album length has also been increased.

Something I also admire so much about this band is that their focus goes way beyond melodies and songwriting. They ... read more