Hot on the heels of the live We Rose From Your Bed With The Sun In Our Head comes The Seer – the brand new Swans offering. For 30-odd years Michael Gira has staged a personal vendetta against hearing. Thankfully, as some respite, his mission is no longer utilised on the sprawling, ominous explorations of the recorded form, but live shows remain another matter and remain designed to provoke, outrage and punish the audience.
Of the current incarnation of Swans, Gira says “our goal is the same: ecstasy!” Indeed, self-knowledge is power as is the understanding of decibels. And having your own record label helps as well. Gira has complete artistic freedom but still retains a degree of quality control and avoids indulgence. On The Seer, Gira marches along to the beat of his own power drill, long nails and blackboards, but the myriad sonic textures applied butt the songs into a musical straitjacket, and very few of the 11 tracks fail to crack six minutes. Then there are the sometimes elegaic and equally brutal pieces, The Seer, Apostate and A Piece Of The Sky which clock at over 20 minutes each.
Heavy distortion, visceral noise and some wonderful sound combine to fall on the right side of melody. Song For The Warrior employs female vocals in very much the same way as the Reid brothers did with Hope Sandoval, whilst Apostate reminds one of Killing Joke and makes you pine for the depravity of their debut Filth. Avatar recalls Gira’s fondness for percussive sonics, but no longer in the abrasive way of previous recordings.
The Seer consolidates the position of the reincarnated Swans who exhibit no sign of taking flight from a nest they seem completely comfortable with.
BY BRONIUS ZUMERIS
Best Track: A Piece Of The Sky
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: MINISTRY, SONIC YOUTH, THROBBING GRISTLE
In A Word: Autumnal
