Swans are a highly regarded New York experimental post-rock outfit masterminded by Young God Records founder Michael Gira. Their lengthy discography includes essentials in the band’s respective styles like Filth, Children of God, White Light From the Mouth of Infinity, The Great Annihilator, my favorite of theirs Soundtracks for the Blind, my 3rd favorite The Seer, my 2nd favorite To Be Kind & The Beggar. The latter will be celebrating its 2-year anniversary next month & Birthing’s getting us ready for another summer.
“The Healers” was a magnificently ambitious evolving intro embarking on a 21 minute journey through slick textures on an ocean of sounds singing about the heavens raining down knives of silver to kiss our bodies in the river whereas “I’m a Tower” sticks out as a Single of the Year contender bringing together post-rock, experimental rock, drone, krautrock, totalism, poetry, art rock, post-punk, goth rock & noise rock fluidly for 19 minutes.
Getting to the title track, it evolved into a lengthy sonic beast full of colorful grooves & rich soundscapes because of of multiple portions of it improving progressively during the band’s last tour advising all these motherfuckers to pay attention to him prior to the shortest track here “Red Yellow” fuses their experimental post-rock sound with goth rock with a hook that’s powerfully sung enough to send goosebumps down your arms.
“Guardian Spirit” starts the 2nd half of Birthing emphasizing a darker atmosphere compositionally talking about Michael’s life being your death while “The Merge” feels reminiscent to the handful of musical experimentations Swans has been known for since the early portion of their career trying out sound collage & harsh noise. “Rope / Away” ends with a 2-part closer making the first leg of it entirely instrumental remembering his mother, Bill Rieflin, Catherine Ceresole & Simon Henwood the other
Finishing the trilogy that leaving meaning. started & The Beggar bridged, allegedly the last album in their discography to focus on all-consuming sound worlds to take on a significantly pared down form for the foreseeable future adds to their legacy with their 3rd generational masterpiece behind Soundtracks for the Blind & To Be Kind. Michael’s production expands the experimentally droney post-rock style Swans have made a name of themselves off of & blending it with krautrock, totalism, poetry, art rock, post-punk, goth rock, noise rock, sound collage & harsh noise.
Score: 5/5
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