The Seer

First, I'm going to bore you with a bit of history regarding myself as relates to Swans. I got the first EP based on a review I read somewhere. That and the fact that they were associated with Sonic Youth on some level. I was impressed. Then 'Filth' and 'Cop' blew me away like a sledgehammer, completely unique. The only influence I could discern was perhaps heavy industrial machinery. I was officially a fan. Then, later, when 'Children of God' came out I was taken aback. I didn't like it and in point of fact I still don't think its that great of a record. I foolishly chalked it up to the influence of Jarboe and I VERY foolishly wrote them off. Fast forward to 2024. I decided, on a whim, to check out a Swans song on YouTube. I think it was "The Seer". I was completely blown away. The music and Michael Gira's classy sales pitch on YouTube drew me in and I began to track down their records. So, that's how THAT went. As for 'The Seer', it is an amazing set from start to finish, absolutely brilliant and wonderfully executed. I highly recommend it to anyone with an adventurous streak to their music listening. Strangely enough, I think I may detect some Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd influence on their music here and on subsequent releases. I feel there was some validation for this viewpoint in the book "Swans: Sacrifice and Transcendence," which I also hereby recommend to anyone looking to see that this whole Swans thing is all about. In it, Gira mentions having seen and been impressed by Pink Floyd circa "Ummagumma." So anyway, please try this heavy-duty 2 CD set on for size. Can't recommend it, and the other releases since the reformation of Swans in 2010, highly enough. Its a truly astounding and cohesive body of work to embark on. Thank you for your time.

I was initially underwhelmed by this album, which made all the critics' best-of lists for 2012, but eventually I realized what everyone was raving about. The thing is, though, THE SEER is not equally superb throughout. The second disc is just amazing, so don't be too hasty to form your opinion after only hearing Disc One. The opening track (Lunacy) is fairly light, and there is a clear minimalist influence. Then Disc Two shoots us screaming into space on a dark, psychedelic voyage! Michael Gira's reformed Swans are more powerful than ever. The more recent TO BE KIND (2014) is more consistent than THE SEER -- it's stronger throughout -- but it does not reach the same heights. The music of Michael Gira and Swans is raw, visionary and uncompromising. His vocals remind of both Lou Reed and Iggy Pop, but the music is sui generis. Listening is like plugging your mind directly into the black hole at the heart of the galaxy.

Too much to say. A mental dissection of a biblical nature. I don't think you can handle it. The darkest night and the fowlest of creatures lurking outside your tent that is slowly disintegrating in the acid rain. Droning complexity of emotions and pain in its purest audible form. An impeccable depiction of life in its heavily charred straight-jacket ripped and restitched innumerous times as frontman Michael Gira pushes the trite of existence to the wall, breaks through it and continues on to suck up the essence of the human eye-perceived universe just to hack it up and spit it out along with the sins and blood of a tortured youth before stomping it into the dirt with a steel toed boot then carrying on chronically kicking the shit out of it and grinning as he does. "A Piece of the Sky" may be one of the greatest songs ever written. Sinister genius. Blood lust. Compromising pain. Unintelligible sentiment. A brief portrayal of Hell. Not for the faint of heart, simple-minded, or content.

Another unusual entry in twentieth/twenty-first century music, in that it requires more than just three minutes to have any value.

This album changed me. This album is unlike no other. The cover mentioned that it was "oblivion through sound," which is by no means inaccurate. Whether you can withstand two hours of this blinding, mesmerizing, elaborately enveloping devilishness is up to you, but even if you consider yourself musically adventurous, be very, very ready. This was all I would allow myself to listen to for at least two weeks, as I knew its influence would be unmatched for the rest of my musically exploratory life. Every one of my roots were shaken to their raw, dark, cores and lifted to a state of being that nothing else has brought me to. If you are willing to let this album take you in, it may be all too rewarding. If you are not, then don't even spend the money. This is not entirely safe stuff to expose yourself to. It is beyond all else. Again, if you buy it, do not brace yourself, but be ready for an all-consuming cherishing of the darker side of every one of us.

So, the SWANS epic new monster of an album 'the Seer' both met and exceeded expectations. Definitely a top pick of 2012. I was even silly enough to buy both the 2CD and 3LP versions. No illegal downloading of the album for me! HOWEVER, what I will give a negative review is their 'automated advertising recommendation generator' program. Week after week I have been hit with recommendations of albums which are allegedly like 'the Seer', but are actually not even in the same genre, let alone even close in an approximation of sound and attitude of the SWANS! Case in point: electronic dance music of the Presets new album 'Pasifica' was recommended as being like the SWANS new album?! I scoff and chuckle with amused indignation with such a ridiculous suggestion... So Amazon, either write a better program or get a 'human' who has a clue to check before automated recommendation emails are sent out. Thank you. Disgruntled customer

The fact that this album is two hours long and that I wasn't ready for it to be over should tell you everything you need to know. Just by chance, the morning after I bought this album I found myself working alone in a windswept, snow covered field. I popped in my head phones and let the Seer wash over me. My mind is officially blown. The perfect album in a perfect setting to hear it for the first time. Next time I experience it, I plan on doing so in a darkened room with a candle or two, a pair of large speakers, and a few pints of high gravity India Pale Ale. I can't wait. PS. I'd never even heard of Swans until I caught a portion of the song "Mother of the World" on NPR a couple days ago. Now I'm a fan.

Good grief. I mean, holy shit. I'm a little drunk, and in the middle of my third listen through this devastating work of art that is The Seer. This is a brilliant, filthy, terrifying and ecstasy-inducing experience. I wasn't even a huge fan of Swans, my first listen being ....Rope to the Sky in 2010, which I thought was pretty interesting. What we have here is a soul-crushing, hypnotic journey into madness. Think of the earth crashing into the sun, or a black hole swallowing an entire solar system, and you'll begin to understand how massive the emotions belonging to this work truly are. 30 years in the making sounds just about right. Are you new to Swans? Well, I suggest some very patient listening. If you're at all willing and interested, you will receive 10-fold your effort in return.

NYの伝説的エクスペリメンタルパンク・バンド、Swansの12th。 13年の沈黙を破った前作「My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky」に続く復帰第二作は、CD二枚組、2時間超、11曲の大作にして、間違いなくエクスペリメンタル・パンクの歴史に名を刻むであろう大傑作です。 レーベルはもちろんYoung God。 ドローンやノイズのような一般的に「ヘヴィー」と表現される類の音も少なからずありますが(Ben Frostを起用していることから明らかなように)、何よりも聞き手の精神にずっしりのしかかるのは、Michael Giraの渋いボーカルと、単語の反復を巧みに用いた猟奇的なリリック。 そしてそれに合わせてミニマルな展開を見せる、膨大な種類の生楽器(ドラム、ギター、ベースはもちろん、果てはハーモニカ、ダルシマー、オルガン、アコーディオン、マンドリン…等々に至るまで)でしょう。 こんな楽器を使ったら普通はカントリーやらフォークやらのトラディショナルなアメリカン・ミュージックが出来そうなものですが、Giraがつくり上げる巧妙な展開の中では、それらも途端にリスナーの精神を蝕む重いサウンドへと変貌します。 鬼気迫るギターと、何かに取り憑かれたかのように連呼される"Lunacy"というワード、そして"Your Childhood is Over"という声が恐ろしげなオープニング・トラック、「Lunacy」。 繰り返し振り下ろされる鉄槌の如き暴力性を持つギターリフが数分間にわたって反復された後、醜い「世界の母」に対する畏敬が朗々と歌いあげられる「Mother of The World」。 本作中最大規模の楽器隊を投入して演奏されるドローンと、ハーモニカの独奏がどうしようもない絶望感を増幅させる30分超の表題曲「The Seer」。 燃え盛る炎の音が徐々にノイズへと変貌していき、最後には美しいボーカルトラックとなる「A Piece of The Sky」など、聞いてるだけで頭がおかしくなりそうな曲の連続。 ラストは「The Apostate」(背教者)。おそらく最も濃厚で残虐で暴力的で快楽的な23分間。 脳みそを叩き潰すように掻き鳴らされる超攻撃的な演奏が10分ほど続いたあたりで、曲調が一変。 どこか神々しさすら感じさせるチューブラーベルの音色に合わせ、還暦間近のGiraが精神に異常をきたしたとしか思えない超絶高テンションで怒鳴り散らす。 "It's not in my mind" "You're not in my mind" "Get out" "We're on a ladder to god" "Blessed" … 薬物中毒者がNYの路地裏でつぶやいてそうな言葉ですが、この異常な作品の最後を飾るにはふさわしい歌詞。 Michael Giraという奇人が、30年の年月をかけてたどり着いた前人未到の境地。見事です。

El album con el cual me introduje a Swans, una maravilla!

Juste pour info, contrairement à ce que la liste des titres Amazon laisse penser, l'ordre des pistes de la version vinyle n'a rien à voir avec celui des versions numériques. Il devient comme suit: A1 Lunacy 6:07 A2 The Apostate Pt. 1 13:18 B1 The Apostate Pt. 2 9:36 B2 A Piece Of The Sky Pt. 1 9:36 C1 A Piece Of The Sky Pt. 2 9:30 C2 93 Ave. B Blues 5:22 C3 The Daughter Brings The Water 2:33 C4 Song For A Warrior 3:58 D1 Mother Of The World 9:59 D2 Avatar 8:49 E1 The Wolf 1:35 E2 The Seer Pt. 1 18:56 F1 The Seer Pt. 2 13:17 F2 The Seer Returns 6:15 Plusieurs pistes ont en effet dues être scindées sur des faces/disques différents pour ne presser que ~20 minutes par face, dans le but de conserver la qualité du son (des basses en particulier). Pour ceux comme moi qui ont écouté la version numérique en premier, je pense que ça vaut le coup d'être au courant; pour ma part, je n'ai pas encore assez écouté la version vinyle pour décider quel ordre je préfère. Il n'en reste pas moins que comme de coutume pour Young God Records et Swans, le pressage et l'emballage sont impeccables. Et pour la musique...vous avez probablement déjà votre avis.

Si cualquier álbum de Swans es imprescindible, The Seer es su obra maestra definitiva, un doble duración que une los Swans más oscuros con los más melódicos.

Swans, what more can be said about them that hasn't been said for over 30 years now. Led by a restless and relentless musical maverick and innovator ( at least in the independent/underground music scene ) Michael Gira, Swans has continually evolved and mutated into an unstoppable musical beast capable of doing absolutely anything and everything. Something countless bands and musicians attempt to do their whole lives and their efforts are annihilated by each and every release Swans put out ( or should I Say everything that Michael Gira has been involved in ?? ) But All That Aside This Album, The 2 Hour Long, Two Disc Spanning (Three When Picked Up On Vinyl) Is an 11 Song Caricature That Not Only Is Composed Of Multiple 20 + minute epics and even a 30 minute one but also contains some of the heaviest and bombastic songs in the entire Swans catalogue and some of the sweetest and utmost beautiful compositions too. For Me Personally I See This As A Concept Album, With The Concept Being The Theme Of The Universe As A Living, Breathing Entity And Life As A Process Of Growth And Renewal. However This Story Is Told Quite Differently On the CD version and the Vinyl version with the ordering and arranging of tracks. The Title Track The 32 Minute Ordeal "The Seer" is obviously The Albums Centrepiece, with The Other Epic Songs Such As " A Piece Of The Sky " and " The Apostate " serving as Not Only Instrumental Passages For Gira To Bless Your Ears With His Twisted Soundscapes But To Create A Cohesive Environment In Which This Monolithic Album Can Sonically Exist And Connect In Harmony With The Other Somewhat Shorter Songs On This Album. With Bombastic and Violent Build ups with the instrumental "93 Ave.B Blues" to the calming and pitch perfect acoustic ballad "Song For A Warrior" sung by Karen O of the Yeah' Yeah' Yeah's this album never lets you get off its rollercoaster ride through extremity all the way until you get to the harrowing "The Seer Returns" with ex Swans Co Leader Jarboe returning on background vocals to give this album a ending that leaves you wanting to take the monstrous journey all over again. All In All This Is Possibly The Best Album Made By Swans With It Being Up To Par With 1996's Gargantuian Soundtracks For The Blind which still manages to be at least 30 mins longer but not quite as non stop captivating on a conscious sense. This Wouldn't Be Recommended For People Who Enjoy Their Sing a long songs from bands like The Beatles Or Michael Jackson, instead this is for serious music lovers and people who are looking for the music equivalent of a 2 hour horror movie. Because Believe Me This Is Definitely Horrifying To Listen To On A Dark Night By Yourself, With You Hiding Under Your Bed With The Seer Blaring And Gira Chanting Like A Never Ending Life Force That Beckons Somewhere beyond Space And Time The Eerie Words, " I SEE IT ALL".