Primary Emotions/Themes: I don't know... I truly don't know
Thoughts: Welcome to the club. I hope you brought your strongest drugs, because you are going to need them to handle what lies beyond these doors. You hear that beat? That's the floor collapsing underneath everyone every second. How are they still alive? You're new here aren't you?
I truly was not ready for this album when I first sat down with it about 20 years ago. It was too much for me, too many things going on. Too many genres, too much experimentation. I had to move on, I couldn't handle it. It was only after I had managed to wrap my head around The Seer that I was able to come back and try to tackle this insane opus.
Our second disc opens up with what can only be defined as Swans entry into the electronic dance music genre. The beat is heavy and it hits hard - four on the floor style. The music swirls around, yet something seems off. The loops don't quite fit together as you would expect. There are odd breaks to the beat before it comes back full force. Jarboe sings and wails like she normally does... but it's a bit more haunting... a bit less human... a bit more... of something.
As we continue our journey to the depths of insanity the EDM is quickly cast aside and we see Swans move into a dark ambient section that rivals Nurse With Wound in terms of oddities. Micheal sings with a flanger placed on his voice. Actually just about everything here has gone through some kind of odd processing. The tringle striking metal in the background, the odd wavy audio that makes the whole song sound like it's coming through a broken radio... what the hell is going on here?
In the middle of the ambience the band explodes into one of the heaviest riffs they have ever created, something rivaling Greed or Filth levels of noise and grit. As quickly as it came the riff is gone and we are back to the broken radio only to repeat this cycle several more times. The song fades into a repeating cello pulling across a string and a piano playing random chords before the side is done...
We're not even half way done with the album yet and I'm already feeling like I'm being dragged through someones waking nightmare. Pray for me, to whatever god you want. I'm going to flip the record.
Help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell, help me I'm in hell....
Written October 29th 2023
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