Cop

Before: I'm genuinely scared to listen to this after Filth. It can't get heavier, it just cant. There is no way.

After: Oh thank god. But holy shit those last three tracks fucked me up something GOOD.

It's a pretty decent follow up to the insane Filth. This might take a while to grow on me, but I honestly kind of prefer Filth. Obviously there is so much good here that I can't just dismiss it all as just "another heavy Swans record", but it's hard to live up to expectation after literally everyone has told me this album is pure pain. And honestly, i've heard heavier on the last record. The more slow tempo and crushing intrumentation backed with Gira's intense lyrics is still something horrific to behold, but it's less "beating you to death" and more "burying you alive" type of dread this album coats. This might be desensitization on my part for listening to these records nearly back to back, but this didn't feel as horrific as the last album. There are still improvements in the sound found here. For starters, the albums lyrics seem much more forward thinking and focused then on Filth, with that same throttling social conciseness that was on Filth, but now with a little more grit behind the words he's screaming. And the production and mixing seems to have improved as well, making the chaos seem a little more fixed and coherent. It feels like the punches this album pulls are beyond painful, almost pleasurable. All in all however, it's still a great release with what are slowly becoming one of my favorite bands. Give this a chance if you dare.

Favorite Jams: Butcher, Cop, Clay Man

Lest Favorite: Half Life