COP

AllMusic calls this album one of the most darkest albums ever recorded. I have to agree. This is dark sludgy metal, brutal to the bone with no light whatsoever. Grinding metal, slow pounding drums and deep dark vocals run through the entirety of this album. Listening to this, you have to admire the focus and the determination to keep this music at an almost constant tempo, slow and trodding, like a herd of dinosaurs wading through a thick tar pit with no hope of deliverance. Each track features a gruesome sounding guitar hook that is mostly played over and over with a thumping bass. There is some amount of melody apparent in a few tracks, like "Butcher". The vocals, sounding more like chants from a prehistoric tribe at times and other times like crazed horror movie murderers, are sometimes repetitive and other times exploratory. The main theme here apparently is sexual domination and submission. To me, there is nothing sexual about it, but I guess we all have our own tastes. But I do have a degree of appreciation for the way the sound is explored.

Anyway, it's a tough one to listen to, but if you love this kind of music, it seems to me that it is interesting enough and would be one that you would enjoy. The production isn't bad either. This music is a far cry from what would come later. A female vocalist would be added after the release of this album which would bring some needed variety to the sound of The Swans. Also, more ingenuity would be added to the music, hence the reason why this music is included in the Archives. It is actually quite surprising that buried in this music is ingenuity. As you slog your way through their discography, you will continue to hear the evolution of their sound. As far as this album, there unfortunately is not a lot of prog, but you can hear a tendency to post metal, and this will eventually evolve to full fledged math rock. As for this album, we will have to settle for 3 stars. Good, but non- essential.