M. Gira and company continue their assault on everyone’s ears with The Seer, a punishing new double-CD (triple-vinyl) follow-up to 2010’s My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky. For Swans-aholics worried about a potential post-Angels of Light “softening,” this is the album for you: There is as much nihilistic beauty in The Seer‘s nearly two-hour duration to assuage your masochistic expectations.
Anyone lucky enough to catch Swans’ Variety Playhouse show last September will immediately recognize the eponymous centerpiece here. “The Seer” is a 33-minute testament to Swans’ heyday in completely dissonant stereo. The track’s initial 10 minutes are a wordless exercise in overbearing, percussive noise. Chiming bells and metallic tubes tone in a shimmering storm, mostly led by the most iconic shirtless drummer in art-rock (dude’s name is Thor, by the way). The song itself is quintessential no-wave, but in a genre-redefining way. It’s refined noise with purpose, totally worth the price of admission alone.
There’s an incredible degree of surprise at every turn: Whether it be the quick internal succession of such a lengthy album packed with gothic pleasure, or a guest appearance from Karen O, Michael Gira knows his fans and will always keep them guessing.
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