What Are You Listening To?

[markm]

Swans/Soundtracks for the Bind (1996)-It's been said by many, that in a career of making weird albums, this is the weirdest album Swans ever made. love it or hate it-and fans fall on both sides of the fence (I am on the love side) there is nothing like this album. The album that was the final straw breaking the Swans for 14 years. They reformed in 2010'ish and they came to more general notoriety in 2012 with their massive trilogy beginning with The Seer in 2012 which garnered a great deal of praise in all music internet sites that cover left of field experimental music, which is when I discovered them. 2012 was when I got into headfi and hifi gear, put together a proper listening system and started following the machinations beyond metal.

At any rate, Soundtracks for the Blind (2 discs, 4 LPs) and 26 tracks is a herculean listen at over 2 hours.  It's long been a favorite for fans of experimental rock music. Some would say it's been eclipsed post 2010 in terms of what Gira strove to achieve-some kind of transcendental music that pulls from many genres. It's an album that requires patience, there is over indulgence and bloat to be sure, but I find the entire experience utterly compelling. 

The roots to Soundtracks predates 1996 some 10 years to the beginning of the Swans existence and is as you might guess, conceived to be the soundtrack to movie that never existed. There's quite a bit ambient music and overall vibe of ambient drone on this album, but also explosive music and  field recordings, and creepy, voyeuristic voice tracks. I believe Gira and Jarboe both recorded people in their lives with mental and physical health problems to create a sense of watching a film designed to give the listener a feeling of discomfort. The album is unsettling and beautiful. Much credit has to go to Jarboe, Gira's long time collaborator who has one of the most elastic, powerful, beautiful and at times brutal female voices in experimental music. 

In fact, the entire album has a combined effect of surrealist experience-reminiscent of a bizarre David Lynch movie and other worldly experience beyond the capacity to explain in words. 

The voice overs create a sense of watching a haunting documentary of some corner of the underbelly of twisted human existence-ne'er do wells living sordid, utterly depressing lives-something that draws me in, repels me but I just can't take my eyes off the screen--- or perhaps, turning to look at the multi car accident on the other side of the highway-traffic backed up for miles, emergency vehicles, cars burning, bodies on stretchers....and you just can't restrain yourself from slowing down to look at the carnage. 

There is nothing that I've heard that sounds like this album. 

[Nasty_Cabbage]

2 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

No issue, no need to defend. I'm surprised that you love it. Knowing how demanding and analytical you are in your listening, it seems incongruous to me. I feel like if you heard the musical equivalent of something this derivative and poorly executed, you'd have a scathing review ready to go before the end of the first song. 

I do think there's a very broad spectrum of "good art", and something doesn't need to be technically impressive to be impactful and meaningful, and being a good illustration is outside of both of those considerations. But even with that in mind I think this cover art sucks. It flaunts a lack of effort. So many other images in the genre are just way cooler and better done. I don't really put a lot of stock in cover art either way but this makes me a bit less likely to want to listen to the music.

So yeah, I'm a little surprised to see your high standards for music juxtaposed with genuine enjoyment of this piece. But I'm also not telling you what to enjoy... if this works for you, then great. You are the target audience. Love wins.

Fair enough I suppose even if I think "demanding" is a little strong. I should probably profess my love of gritty hand drawn artwork more often, and especially if it's sub sword and sorcery b-grade fantasy related. I'll occasionally criticize some of it for having very poor depth of field (that new Cirith Ungol still hurts my eyes), or trying to mimic Dan Seagrave and ending up just looking too busy.

Also musically maybe I am a little harsh on certain bands. If I'm being pulled both toward the extremely technical end of things or the simpler exposed raw nerve feeling over execution school, I probably resist the simpler one a little more. Still some of my personal favorites do come from that side. It might be that higher levels of complexity to my ears allow for a ton more variance and personal style. I can completely understand how somebody might hear Decrepit Birth and just hear later era Death worship. What's more they'd probably be correct to say so, but because of the abundance of musical choices made in the course of a given Decrepit Birth song I tend to listen to how and where they deviate from Death's style, and that's a little harder to do with a band that worships Under The Sign of The Black Mark era Bathory. When it hits me though, it hits hard.

NP: Overpower - Becoming the Tyrant

Becoming The Tyrant | Overpower | Mercenary Press (bandcamp.com)

Nifty little EP. Crunchy guitar tone. The pace changes edge a little too close to crossover thrash/hardcore for me to rave about it.

[FatherAlabaster]

1 hour ago, markm said:

Swans/Soundtracks for the Bind (1996)-It's been said by many, that in a career of making weird albums, this is the weirdest album Swans ever made. love it or hate it-and fans fall on both sides of the fence (I am on the love side) there is nothing like this album. The album that was the final straw breaking the Swans for 14 years. They reformed in 2010'ish and they came to more general notoriety in 2012 with their massive trilogy beginning with The Seer in 2012 which garnered a great deal of praise in all music internet sites that cover left of field experimental music, which is when I discovered them. 2012 was when I got into headfi and hifi gear, put together a proper listening system and started following the machinations beyond metal.

At any rate, Soundtracks for the Blind (2 discs, 4 LPs) and 26 tracks is a herculean listen at over 2 hours.  It's long been a favorite for fans of experimental rock music. Some would say it's been eclipsed post 2010 in terms of what Gira strove to achieve-some kind of transcendental music that pulls from many genres. It's an album that requires patience, there is over indulgence and bloat to be sure, but I find the entire experience utterly compelling. 

The roots to Soundtracks predates 1996 some 10 years to the beginning of the Swans existence and is as you might guess, conceived to be the soundtrack to movie that never existed. There's quite a bit ambient music and overall vibe of ambient drone on this album, but also explosive music and  field recordings, and creepy, voyeuristic voice tracks. I believe Gira and Jarboe both recorded people in their lives with mental and physical health problems to create a sense of watching a film designed to give the listener a feeling of discomfort. The album is unsettling and beautiful. Much credit has to go to Jarboe, Gira's long time collaborator who has one of the most elastic, powerful, beautiful and at times brutal female voices in experimental music. 

In fact, the entire album has a combined effect of surrealist experience-reminiscent of a bizarre David Lynch movie and other worldly experience beyond the capacity to explain in words. 

The voice overs create a sense of watching a haunting documentary of some corner of the underbelly of twisted human existence-ne'er do wells living sordid, utterly depressing lives-something that draws me in, repels me but I just can't take my eyes off the screen--- or perhaps, turning to look at the multi car accident on the other side of the highway-traffic backed up for miles, emergency vehicles, cars burning, bodies on stretchers....and you just can't restrain yourself from slowing down to look at the carnage. 

There is nothing that I've heard that sounds like this album. 

I haven't heard anything else quite like it either. It's been years since I put myself through it. The voice recordings are really unsettling. I remember reading somewhere that they combed through a lot of secondhand tapes from pawn shops and so forth, but I don't actually know the backstory for those. As far as the later stuff goes... kudos to them, and I like it. I really got into the immersive soundscape of To Be Kind. But none of it is as compelling to me as the pre-breakup material. Maybe that's just because I listened to it so much when I was younger. Maybe part of it is also what Jarboe added. I don't get into her solo stuff, but she brought so much depth and weirdness to the band.

[markm]

Dödsrit/ Spirit Crusher (2018)-pound for pound my favorite so far

Dödsrit/Mortal Coil (2021)

Mastiff/Deprecipice (2024)-  garnering some attention, pretty heavy metallic hardcore sludgy kind of mix of hardcore and death metal. 

[navybsn]

Sarcofagus - Envoy of Death

Savage - Hyperactive

No Future, No Past - Finnish Speed & Thrash Metal Explosion 1986-1992

 

[AlSymerz]

Armoured Angel - Hymns Of Hate

[JonoBlade]

6 hours ago, markm said:

Swans/Soundtracks for the Bind (1996)-It's been said by many, that in a career of making weird albums, this is the weirdest album Swans ever made. love it or hate it-and fans fall on both sides of the fence (I am on the love side) there is nothing like this album. The album that was the final straw breaking the Swans for 14 years. They reformed in 2010'ish and they came to more general notoriety in 2012 with their massive trilogy beginning with The Seer in 2012 which garnered a great deal of praise in all music internet sites that cover left of field experimental music, which is when I discovered them. 2012 was when I got into headfi and hifi gear, put together a proper listening system and started following the machinations beyond metal.

At any rate, Soundtracks for the Blind (2 discs, 4 LPs) and 26 tracks is a herculean listen at over 2 hours.  It's long been a favorite for fans of experimental rock music. Some would say it's been eclipsed post 2010 in terms of what Gira strove to achieve-some kind of transcendental music that pulls from many genres. It's an album that requires patience, there is over indulgence and bloat to be sure, but I find the entire experience utterly compelling. 

The roots to Soundtracks predates 1996 some 10 years to the beginning of the Swans existence and is as you might guess, conceived to be the soundtrack to movie that never existed. There's quite a bit ambient music and overall vibe of ambient drone on this album, but also explosive music and  field recordings, and creepy, voyeuristic voice tracks. I believe Gira and Jarboe both recorded people in their lives with mental and physical health problems to create a sense of watching a film designed to give the listener a feeling of discomfort. The album is unsettling and beautiful. Much credit has to go to Jarboe, Gira's long time collaborator who has one of the most elastic, powerful, beautiful and at times brutal female voices in experimental music. 

In fact, the entire album has a combined effect of surrealist experience-reminiscent of a bizarre David Lynch movie and other worldly experience beyond the capacity to explain in words. 

The voice overs create a sense of watching a haunting documentary of some corner of the underbelly of twisted human existence-ne'er do wells living sordid, utterly depressing lives-something that draws me in, repels me but I just can't take my eyes off the screen--- or perhaps, turning to look at the multi car accident on the other side of the highway-traffic backed up for miles, emergency vehicles, cars burning, bodies on stretchers....and you just can't restrain yourself from slowing down to look at the carnage. 

There is nothing that I've heard that sounds like this album. 

That is some write up and endorsement. I am soon to be taking a 17 hour flight to Perth and it sounds like this will get me most of the way there.

[AlSymerz]

Belushi Speed Ball - Face Schmelted In Nine Minutes Or Less

[MarkhantonioYeatts]

COLLAPSED / ADRESTIA - Antitheism

 

[AlSymerz]

Black Mass - Feast At The Forbidden Tree

[Thatguy]

10 hours ago, markm said:

There is nothing that I've heard that sounds like this album. 

Well. I haven't listened to Swans for some time and I don't have this one. I shall have to re-assess everything, my whole life probably.

[AlSymerz]

Cavalera Conspiracy - Inflikted

[Nasty_Cabbage]

NP: Hypoxia - Defiance

▶︎ Defiance | HYPOXIA | Selfmadegod (bandcamp.com)

Seeing this had Michael Poggione on bass duty is what piqued my interest. Dude's been a bass mercenary for a while, and you've likely heard him play on something if you've been on a death metal diet for a while. I kind of like this because taken at face value it's about what you'd expect; brutal death that would be at home on Unique Leader or Razorback, but it's not brutal death with a capitol B. Primary influence I'm hearing is early Suffocation with just the slightest nod toward melody. Don't take me the wrong way though. You wouldn't mistake these guys for At The Gates in any universe ever, but it's presence does keep things interesting.

[JamesT]

6 minutes ago, AlSymerz said:

Cavalera Conspiracy - Inflikted

Fantastic choice, my friend!  An album I revisit frequently.  Heavy, aggressive, and fierce - the Cavalera way!

[Thatguy]

MURG -Strävan

NP - SWANS - The Glowing Man. I'm settled in for a couple of hours here.

[AlSymerz]

44 minutes ago, JamesT said:

Fantastic choice, my friend!  An album I revisit frequently.  Heavy, aggressive, and fierce - the Cavalera way!

Yeah I wasn't quite on board with Psychosis but Inflikted was a good album.

 

NP: Death - Scream Bloody Gore

[markm]

3 hours ago, Thatguy said:

Well. I haven't listened to Swans for some time and I don't have this one. I shall have to re-assess everything, my whole life probably.

Now just to be clear, I didn't say it was the best thing I've ever heard in my life, just that there is nothing I've heard that sounds like this album. Swans were O.G. influencers. 

[AlSymerz]

Algebra - Feed The Ego

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Coffins - Sinister Oath, Japan. The new one sounds as good as their last and is dropping Friday.  

 

Endless Loss – Traversing The Mephitic Artery, Australian black/death from Adelaide

 

[markm]

7 hours ago, JonoBlade said:

That is some write up and endorsement. I am soon to be taking a 17 hour flight to Perth and it sounds like this will get time most of the way there.

Thanks Jon, I appreciate your being open.  I should say yes, this is a really fucking weird album, but to heavy music fans who try to expose themselves to a reasonable share of "weird af metal" it may not seem that weird since the album came out in 1996 and a lot of weird shit has come out since then.

The album is interesting on multiple levels, but is a challenging listen, so be forewarned. It's "a lot" as the kids like to say. From what I can tell, it's become kind of a cult classic in expero-weirdo-droney music. It's nearly 2 and half ours long. I find it best let the whole thing wash over me. I'll put in a queue on Sonos or play it in my car and listen to it shorter sessions.

There is no grand concept or over arching theme other than the what you, the listener bring. Some people describe it as a dream. I find the first disc makes more sense to the way I process music as tangible; very diverse. The second disc, gets more, well, weird and abstract sounding with more extended ambient drone pieces and to my sensibilities, is the sound of madness. But Gira states that it's just a collection of assorted material spanning 1981-1996. His liner notes states Soundtracks’ song sources included  “hand-held cassette recordings to found sounds, to samples, to loops, to finished multitrack recordings.”

I found this quote just now: Wider and craggier than the Grand Canyon, as epic in scope and testament as the St. James Bible, as weirdly and quirkily diverse as the Beatles’ White Album—that’s the description I gave to producer/multi-instrumentalist Rieflin, who said, “Yeah, that about wraps Soundtracks up nicely,” he says with a soft laugh. “Plus, it seems to go on for-fucking-ever. It’s as if it never ends.”

 Gira would later go on to say that when they reunited and recorded the Seer in 2012 (my entry point and one of my favorite albums of all time), the Seer was the culmination of everything they had tried to do. 

Listening to Soundtracks for the blind in the last 24 hours makes me appreciate the evolution from SFTB to the trilogy (The Seer, To Be Kind and The Glowing Man). The trilogy is more cohesive. I love the trilogy , but I also really dig this earlier, cruder, more rudimentary attempt to distill Gira's vision. It's just a special album I come back to once a year or so. It's also significant to me in the influence I hear in the other experimental artists like guitarist Tim Hecker and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Swans have such a diverse discography and sound palette. This is one important piece of the Swans Rubik's cube. Masterpiece or self indulgent crap? We each get to decide. I think it's pretty rad. 

[Thatguy]

11 minutes ago, markm said:

Swans have such a diverse discography and sound palette. This is one important piece of the Swans Rubik's cube. Masterpiece or self indulgent crap? We each get to decide. I think it's pretty rad. 

True and true. I guess it's partly the diversity of their output that has consistently put me in two minds about them. Partly I love their ambition and weirdness, partly I feel they just go on and on and not a lot happens. But they draw me back somehow.

And talking about Jarboe, have you heard the album 'Neurosis & Jarboe'? It's pretty good.

[AlSymerz]

Black Mercy Riffs - Laid to Rest

[GoatmasterGeneral]

37 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

And talking about Jarboe, have you heard the album 'Neurosis & Jarboe'? It's pretty good.

Neurosis & Jarboe, 2003, can't say that I have. Ask me in an hour.

 

[RelentlessOblivion]

Bathory - Nordland I

[AlSymerz]

Death Angel - Act III