SWANS - The Glowing Man

Swans - The Glowing Man (2016, Young God Records)

Another behemoth piece of music from Swans has been released in June this year and I could not pass the fact that despite my pure enjoyment of this release and catching The Glowing Man tour in July, I deliberately procrastinated to write this review for a good six months. Frontman and band leader, Michael Gira is a generous artist that offers another double LP and lots of liner notes to his songs. As he states on his Bandcamp page, Gira will continue to make music under the Swans moniker but with different collaborators and will pull the plug to the incarnation of the band that he restarted in 2009. The conclusion of this chapter of Swans is just a way to continue into a new direction.

NEUROSIS - Fires Within Fires

Neurosis - Fires Within Fires (2016, Neurot Recordings)

One of the most celebrated and respected Extreme Metal band Neurosis is celebrating their 30 years of existence. I’ve been an avid fan of their music since 15 or so years and I still rock a t-shirt of The Eye of Every Storm to this day. It would be an understatement to say that I was highly expecting this album. Even if Given To The Rising left me a bit cold at times and I thought that Honour Found In Decay had its moments, Fires Within Fires might be their most complete and concise album since their inception.

In Concert : SWANS, Québec, Le Cercle, July 9

On a rainy Saturday night in July that looked like what we would usually call Fall in Québec, Swans was headlining  a show at one of the best and most intimate venues in the city; Le Cercle. Along about a hundred fans the place was not packed but still got ambiance.