Swans came out wih a new album titled ''The Glowing Man'' earlier this year. Micheal Gira's Swans don't need much of an introduction, and as such, their albums often build up quite a bit of expectations. The same was the case with ''The Glowing Man''. Especially since ''To Be Kind'' and ''The Seer'' had been albums close to perfection in their own particular realm of perfecting the addictive noise-rock/psych/avant-garde repetition to its finest form. Having seen Swans play the entire ''The Seer'' live a few years ago it was hard to imagine that anything could beat that particular album. Whatever the case may be, then ''The Glowing Man'' tends to move in the same kind of soundscapes as ''The Seer'' and ''To Be Kind''. Well at least more or less.
The album starts off with a track titled ''Cloud Of Forgetting'', and it packs some fine post-rockish repetition together with the somewhat haunting vocals of Gira. This repetition evolves into a rather heavy and dark final part. Similar to many tracks on ''The Seer''. ''Cloud Of Unknowing'' on the other hand starts off in a droney and ambient manner, only to move into another mesmerizing repetitive pattern that mixes noise rock and post-rock. This fine bit is followed by a lenghty section of more ambient soundscapes. The third track ''The World Looks Red/The World Looks Black'' again boasts some rather additive and transcendant patterns of repetition and fascinating haunting vocals. There are also some rather suitable piano patterns on this track, making it perhaps my personal favorite track from this particular album. The following track ''People Like Us'' has more of a murky Americana/gothic rock feel to it, with ''Frankie M'' starting off in a pretty ambient manner, only to move into some noise section that reminds me quite a few Soviet era films that depict a post-apocalyptic dystopian world. Films like Dead Man's Letters. This is however followed by a quite The Seer'esque pattern of repetitive noise-rock. The same exact thing could essentially be said about ''When Will I Return'' - a track that probably packs the most memorable and catchy bit on this album. ''Glowing Man'' is another example of some droney ambience ascending into full fledged noisy repetition - repetition that is perhaps the most fast-paced on this album. The album ends with ''Finally, Peace'', which is a rather up-beat track in Swans kind of not so upbeat sense. But again the main word here is rather catchy repetition.
All in all ''The Glowing Man'' does pack some pretty memorable tracks that tend to be in the vein of ''The Seer'' and ''To Be Kind'', but also packs some mellower bits than let's say ''The Seer''. Thus the album packs more of a post-rock atmosphere than the previous releases. Whatever the case may be the album is worth checking out and while it is not as good as ''The Seer'', then it probably does not dissappoint anyone as well.
Some related links:
The Glowing Man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFHQiYvuVlM
