Calliope Music Review of the Week
Swans - The Beggar
Renowned Experimental Rock Group, Swans Enter the Charred Sewers of Death through Primal Post-Rock and Discomposed Gothic Country in their 16th Studio LP.
Deliberate tempos, hypnotic bass drums, expansive harmonies and snarly vocals spiral in a spiritual affair, creaking to the sinister nuances of death and deterioration. Band founder and leader, Michael Gira utilizes steady cadences to deliver spacious hauntings of human nature, begging to stay afloat amid prophetic disfigurement. Slow-moving progressions do lead to moments of sedate emptiness, yet Gira nevertheless succeeds in pulling the listener down into the depths of his darkest manifestation: the grotesque inevitability of expiration.
Swans are known for their wicked experimentation within the Rock scene. Whether through their debut Noise and No Wave industrial slaughter, Filth, or their shamanistic Post-Rock thrashings of the 2010s, the band is ceaseless in expanding what music is capable of sounding like. Their newest venture is a continuation of 2019's leaving meaning., focused on using a droning minimalism to extort primal human characteristics.
The primary theme of The Beggar is simple: Death. Michael Gira, now at the ripe age of 69 is facing senescence, and is putting all of his mind, body and soul into facing such imminence. The opening track, 'The Parasite,' phrases this concept in two ways. The first, is that death is a parasite to the body, slowly sucking away at one's ability to perform, manipulating them into a sack of what they once were. The second, is that Gira is a parasite to the Earth itself, continuously taking what isn't his in order to survive and create other beings destined to take more. The rhythmic tepidness of the drums and strings suggest the fragility of the Parasite, hanging on to life before the track, and the sucking insect that is living fade away into silence.
The two hour album continues the motif of passing throughout the entirety of the project. 'Paradise is Mine' uses choral vocals and a mesmerizing bassline to see death as a passage into endless bliss, but also a deep, dark ocean of unknown. 'Michael is Done' harps on the unsightly malformation that death brings, whilst ushering in room for new life to grow. The title track emphasizes a desperate plea to live, where Gira reaches to a higher power for a chance to escape eternal damnation. The 8th track, 'Ebbing' paints the picture of swaying waters, a tide gently pulling the soul into a liminal space between existence and quietus. The 44 minute titan of a song, 'The Beggar Lover (Three)' completes the cycle of death, as ones body matter is redistributed into the Earth. In total, Swans capture an individualistic, but universal perspective on demise, as Gira's calamitous words and foaming vocals lead the way into a petrifying blackness, interwoven with the natural processes of the world.
Similar themes are heard in the music itself, as obtuse progressions slither in ghostly tones and acoustic reverberance. Grisly guitar matches Gira's deep vocals, repeating spacey chords as further instrumentation develops over extended signatures. Ghostly choir accompanies Gira in the background while droning synths whistle and cataclysmic kick drums lead to devastating climaxes. Catchy basslines bolster grimy melodies that juxtapose surprisingly well with bright triangles, cymbals and other shimmering effects. Along with sustained developments and incremental crescendos, Swans build a soul-stirring atmosphere; a representation of the slow decline that aging is.
While the overall sonic environments are especially captivating, many movements fall flat in the face of languor. There is tremendous potential for supreme emotional depth in each track, but underwhelming and decelerated progressions drive initial fascination into weariness. Certain tracks, such as 'Unforming' and 'No More of This' lack a definitive and satisfying auditory narrative, as Gira's vague lyricism becomes the focus. The 44 minute song, 'The Beggar Lover (Three)' faces the same issue, where each musical habitat presents engrossing and quite foreboding concepts, but an absence of cohesive direction leads to large sections of the track becoming monotonous.
In the end, The Beggar stands as a curious tale of innateness and the natural state of mortality. Michael Gira and company develop eerie demonstrations of the inescapable and man's desperate attempts to claim it as their own. In doing so, the band reflects another reality: life isn't always exciting and fully engrossing. Even so, lessons can be learned, and the lesson here is that it is essential to live doing what one loves. The Beggar is not an admirable position, even if everyone finds themselves there at some point. Gira begs to be able to continue doing what he loves and loving who he loves, despite his endeavors that have led him astray from reality so many times in the past. This sentiment, along with Swans' ability to build awe-inspiring musical environments is what makes this album a horrifying, yet beautiful confrontation with the Grim Reaper and his tormented subsidiaries.
Best Tracks: The Parasite -- Paradise Is Mine -- Michael is Done -- The Beggar -- Ebbing -- The Memorious
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