I think if you are introducing someone to Swans, you need to approach it the way you introduce someone to Guinness. Yeah, the beer.
The first time I had Guinness, I was like "What the fuck is this burnt garbage liquid?" But then a friend told me not to think of it as a beer. "Think of it as a creamy dessert." After I changed my perception on what I was drinking, I immediately loved Guinness.
Swans is kind of the same. You can't approach Swans expecting a rock band. Instead, expect an experience in which you are presented with relentless sonic brutality. This is really the heaviest band I think I've ever heard. Now when I hear "heavy metal" bands, all I hear is wimps actually singing melodies like they are Bruno Mars with distorted guitars. Heh... melodies...
Swans gives no fucks. They will slam the same guitar chord for 5 minutes, and just when you think they are finished, they slam it even harder for 5 more.
The genius of Swans is they perfectly embody aggression, frustration, and anger one moment, but then they give you moments of beauty that on any other album might be "just ok". But in the context of this record, those moments are like a cathartic release of all that pent up frustration. It's really awesome.
After The Seer, I delved into their discography, and I'd say most of their stuff is good, but Children of God is unreal. It instantly jumped into my top 5 albums of all time.
Check them out:
Swans - The Apostate (23 mins)
Swans - New Mind (only 5 mins lol)
No comments:
Post a Comment