The present day incarnation of post-rock and experimental rock collective known as Swans have finally released the concluding piece to their modern day "trilogy", The Glowing Man. Riding on the waves of sheer creative force and passion like he always has, front-man and lead singer Michael Gira sets a tone of isolation and desperation in this washed out and lethargic album that despite it's most impressive and riveting moments, falls short of it's high expectations in comparison to it's predecessors, The Seer and To Be Kind.
As people may or may not know, Swans is the name given to the musical project that is under the direction of Michael Gira, who is now 62 years old. Their first incarnation saw the release of several albums in the 1980s that fell under the label of "no wave" and "noise rock", that sounded very violent and dirty, but not necessarily in the fashion of a typical metal band around the time. After several lineup changes, 90s Swans encompassed more of an industrial and post-rock sound that became increasingly experimental leading up to the band's disbandment in 1997.
After his work with Angels of Light, Gira decided to reform Swans in its current incarnation. This version of Swans offered a brand new lineup and a significant change in the composition of their albums. As they have become extremely consistent and comprehensive as the albums have a more set structure and thematic atmosphere when listening to them. That's why The Glowing Man is a part of this "trilogy" of recent albums. Even Gira himself stated that this album was "the final recording of this configuration of Swans".
While The Glowing Man did not reach the level of intensity and ferocity that absolutely gripped me from their two previous albums, the album is a still a tremendous effort for a concluding album, as this is probably the hardest thing to decipher about the record. I've asked myself several questions when writing this review: "What if the album's incredibly drawn out and slow nature was completely intentional?" "What if Gira and his crew who took everyone who listened to The Seer and To Be Kind on a musical journey full of gusto and power, made this album just to mellow them out in the end?" "Did Gira simply run out of ideas and become lazy this time around?" Either way, the album still leaves a lingering feeling of lackluster by the time it's over, intentional or not. But that doesn't mean it was a bad record in any sense.
Even though there are disappointing aspects to analyzing the album holistically, there are still plenty of moments in The Glowing Man that make it a fun listen regardless of what came before it. The title track and "Frankie M" are the pillars of the album, that take the listener through this seemingly endless journey through the desert. I say this because these songs made me feel like I was lost in a vast, open area, like a desert, and that I was trying to go somewhere, and I tirelessly trailed on step by step, hoping I would make it until the end. Other songs on the album, like "The World Looks Black/The World Looks Red", also contribute this theme of searching and looking for answers to impossible questions where anxiety and stress hang over the listener like a dark cloud made just for them. I just couldn't shake this feeling that the album depicts a person on this spiritual quest for some kind of solace or enlightenment. This feeling is supported through Gira's vocals that sound like contemporary hymns or chants, and the fluctuation between the repetitive, stoic instrumentation and the massive crescendos that make the listener feel like everything is coming down all at once. These crescendos, by the way, are perhaps some of the most intense and profound moments in any Swans album, and I'm glad Gira and company were able to appropriately incorporate them into this record as well.
The album cover itself appears to mimic a Native American hieroglyphic, perhaps to imply the presence of mysticism as one of the album's themes. Or it could mean nothing at all. This is yet another problem with trying to tackle Swans' music. You can never tell if you're reading too much into something, or not reading enough. In fact, I specifically remember when watching a mini-documentary by Pitchfork that covered The Seer era in 2012, when one of the interviewers asked Micheal Gira who "the seer" was inference to album's title, and Gira immediately scoffed and almost laughed, as he quickly said "Oh, I don't know. I don't think that part means much honestly. When I created that phrase when writing the the title track, I was just saying random things until something seemed to fit."
In the end, The Glowing Man still manages to be the most fitting, and perhaps bittersweet end to an epic and beautiful trilogy of albums. Even though its biggest letdown was being unable to have those strong, memorable moments that get people excited and reminded on why they should listen to a particular album once again. I just could not find those moments like I could with The Seer and To Be Kind. I can only guess what Gira and his friends may come up with next, or maybe this truly is the end of Swans, who knows. And even if it is, I would be completely fine with that, as Swans has given us more than enough music to last us several decades.
Overall: 7.8 out of 10
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