Swans
To Be Kind
Young God (2014)
Considering that many of the group’s earliest albums were sometimes described as being unlistenable, it’s odd that Swans have garnered increasing critical acclaim and notoriety some thirty years on in their history. Led by Michael Gira, the only player remaining from the group’s earlier incarnation that was declared as “dead” following 1996’s outstanding Soundtracks for the Blind (an album I still believe is the group’s best), Swans unexpectedly reformed around 2010 and immediately re-positioned themselves at the forefront of the experimental rock scene. 2010’s My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky and 2012’s The Seer presented a more refined version of Swans, one that was not so much trying to brutalize a listener with sound but was seeking to place him in the middle of a desolate, harrowing, but fascinating sonic landscape. Clearly influenced by the noticeably less abrasive music Gira had been producing under the name Angels of Light during the 2000’s, these albums nonetheless still have that slightly creepy, disquieting quality that one would expect coming from Swans. The 2014 double album To Be Kind, like the two releases immediately preceding it (and anything in the Swans back catalog for that matter), is likely … Read more
Moonlit Sailor
We Come From Exploding Stars
Deep Elm (2014)
A post-rock review is always a challenge. If you think it’s tough to capture the attention of an audience and … Read more
Coffinworm
IV.I.VIII
Profound Lore (2014)
Coffinworm has been terrorizing the world since the release of their debut demo, Greater Bringer of Night. From that point … Read more
