SWANS @ SUMMIT MUSIC HALL 2/22/11 DENVER-CO

“Swans Are Not Dead” claimed Michael Gira founder of the experimental noise rock band Swans, about a year ago. Since then they have released “My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky,” one of last years best albums, a departure from his apocalyptic noise doom rock but equally as good. They have been around since the early 80’s, creating some of that eras noisiest records like “Cop” “Filth” “Holy Money” and “Greed.” Joining Mr. Gira on tour is Norman Westberg on guitar, Phil Puleo on drums, Christoph Hahn on guitar, Chris Pravdica on bass and the mighty Thor Harris on drums and percussions, “Six clowns will slaughter a cow for your amusement.”

Also playing: Wooden Wand – James Jackson Toth’s experimental/psychedelic folk project out of Kentucky.

CULT SOUNDS OF 2010

DARK FORTRESS – “Ylem” German melodic black metal. Ylem is a pitch black masterpiece with invocations of the death principle; this album signifies the end of everything that exists now; slow, very heavy with insane blastbeats and orchestral darkness. V. Santura also in Triptykon plays some of the best guitar I’ve heard in years. 

HOUR OF 13 – “The Ritualist” Occult doom metal from North Carolina. This album is a true doom masterpiece that delves into themes of the macabre, darkness, satanic panic, cold atmospheres and complete bleakness.

TRIPTYKON – “Eparistera Daimones” Thomas G. Fischer legendary frontman of Celtic Frost and Hellhammer, unleashes this beautiful black/gothic/avant-garde masterpiece. It’s darker, heavier and more experimantal than anything he’s done before. V. Santura does another impressive job on guitar.

DANZIG – “Deth Red Sabaoth” The master of death blues metal is back with his best work this decade, memories of black magic rituals and satanic sacrifices.

HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS – Mr. and Mrs. Reznor create beautiful industrial/electronic noise with the help of Atticus Ross and Rob Sheridan.

SWANS – “My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky” First Swans album from Michael Gira in 14 years, different than his previous experimental/industrial rock lp’s but equally as good.

ZOROASTER – “Matador” Psychedelic/sludge/doom metal from the swamps of Atlanta, a good trip when your high.

THE FUNERAL PYRE – “Vultures At Dawn” Melodic blackened death metal from CA. One of the best extreme metal albums this year, very dark, eerie and doom laden.

KYLESA – “Spiral Shadow” Psychedelic/sludge metal from Savannah. This album is very early 90’s indie rock influenced, with two vocalists and two drummers, it gives it a unique touch.

INTERPOL – “Interpol” Creepy, morose and sinister dark indie rock with touches of post-punk and shoegaze from a great band from NYC.

FEAR FACTORY – “Mechanize” A cold, menacing mass of mechanical precision with industrialized depth, it hits harder than a truckful of tungsten. Industrial metal from L.A. their best since their 1st album.

DEFTONES – “Diamond Eyes” An album with crushing density, heavy crunchy guitars, soulful and blazing vocals, Deftones at their best.

INTRONAUT – “Valley Of Smoke” A progressive/sludge/jazz metal album, with clean vocals, fluid bass lines, long instrumental passages and excellent percussions. 

THE HIGH CONFESSIONS – “Turning Led Into Gold With…” Psychedelic/industrial rock noise from 4 great artists. Anything that Chris Conelly sings in is great.

TWILIGHT – “Monument To Time End” Blake Judd (Nachtmystium) and Aaron Turner (Isis) creating black metal, enuff said.

CIRCLE OF ANIMALS – “Destroy The Light” A dark and hypnotic industrial album brought to you by Sanford Parker (Minsk) and Bruce Lamont (Yakuza).

HIGH ON FIRE – “Snakes Of The Divine” Thunderous, abrasive roaring blasts, colossal riffs and grim metal with a brute force approach from Mike Pike and the boys.

GRINDERMAN – “Grinderman 2” Nick Cave’s psychedelic/garage rock album, hypnotic at times, it doesn’t get better.

THE TEAR GARDEN – “Have A Nice Trip” Edward Ka-Spel and Cevin Key take us through another great trip into their warp minds.

NACHTMYSTIUM – “Addicts: Black Meddle Part 2” Blake Judd creates another black metal masterpiece that is not black metal.

UNEARTHLY TRANCE – “V” The soundtrack of your soul’s descent into the pits ov hell, pure evil sludge/doom.

NEW MUSIC

GRINDERMAN – “Grinderman 2” – Seedy, psychedelic-blues punk from Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey and Jim Sclavunos. This their second album is more like a blanket of noise, more psychedelic/drone feel to it, it still has Mr. Cave’s dark vocals, but with a much noisier background. Best songs are “Evil,” “Kitchenette,” “Worm Tamer” and “Heathen Child.”     

SWANS – “My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky.” Experimental noise rock from legendary avant-garde artist Michael Gira. On his first album in 13 years, the music is a hallucinatory vision on a wall of sound pummeling on a seasick rhythm, an it closes on a note of starkly beutiful music. “Folk Noise.”

UNEARTHLY TRANCE – “V” – Sludge/doom metal from Brooklyn NY. It’s like “an electric, urban funeral drone that summons great evil,” it has a black metal vibe mixed with a sludgy doom sound and great ambient/drone passages. Like the soundtrack of your soul’s descent into the pits of hell, pure evil. 

NEUROSIS – “Live At Roadburn 2007” – Experimental/doom metal from Oakland, this album was recorded live at The Roadburn Festival in Tilburg-Netherlands. The album is a pitch black piece of music, which drives the listener into the ground and crushes it’s surroundings. A bleak and agonizing display of ferocity with explosive riffs and roaring voices, ambient soundscapes, the perfect soundtrack to the apocalyptic end of the world.

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES – “No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family” – Venice Beach skate punks re-recorded tracks from their old lp “Join The Army” and Mike Muir’s (vocalist) other band, No Mercy.

GNAW THEIR TONGUES – “L’Arrivee De La Terne Mort Triomphante” – Schizophrenic experimental/noise from the Netherlands.

DEATH ANGEL – “Relentless Retribution” – Legendary thrash metal from the Bay Area.

MINISTRY – “Mixxxes Of The Mole” – Track by track remix of 2004 lp “House Of The Mole,” “Trance-metal.”

BXI – 4 song Ep collaboration between Boris – Japanese psychedelic/doom rock band and Ian Astbury – Lead singer of The Cult. 

RIOTGOD – “Riotgod” – Metal from 2 members of Monster Magnet.

KNIGHTS OF THE ABYSS – “The Culling Of Wolves” – Death metal from the rascist state (Arizona).

THE ETERNAL SUFFERING – “Miasma” – Blackened death metal from Greece.

DEMIURG – “Slakthus Gamleby” Progressive old school death metal from Sweden.

THE SWORD – “Warp Riders” – Sludge/stoner metal from Texas.

ISOBEL CAMPBELL & MARK LANEGAN – “Hawk” – Alt-rock from Scottish singer Isobel and multi-band vocalist and solo artist Mr. Lanegan.

DALE WATSON – “Carryin’ On” – Alt-country singer from Texas.

MOGWAI – “Special Moves” – Live concert from Scottish post-rock/shoegaze band.

CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE – “The Well” Legendary blues harp player since 1967, the “White Bluesman.”

KATAKLYSM – “Heavens Venom” – Canadian death metal.

MALEVOLENT CREATION – “Invidioud Dominion” One of the original death metal bands from the Florida scene.

CITY OF FIRE – “City Of Fire” – Fear Factory “lite” featuring Burton C. bell and Byron Stroud.

ION DISSONANCE – “Cursed” Mathcore metal from Canada.

SWANS & GODFLESH REUNIONS 10/22/10 BIRMINGHAM-UK

The legendary Swans will be headlining the Supersonic Festival in Birmingham, UK. along with the mighty Godflesh. The Swans will be playing for the first time in over a decade. Pioneers of the post-punk scene, they are the creators of some of the best noise rock/experimental/industrial music. Godflesh will be playing their 2nd show this year after reuniting for HellFest earlier. So if you are in the UK around this time there is no excuse to miss this.