Swans

Formed in New York in the early 1980s around Michael Gira, Swans initially emerged from the no wave scene with austere, repetitive and physical music at the intersection of noise rock, post‑punk and industrial. The band's early records, notably Filth (1983) and Cop (1984), relied on heavy rhythms, minimal riffs and an almost hammering tension. From the mid‑1980s the arrival of Jarboe shifted Swans toward more melodic and open forms without abandoning a dark aesthetic, incorporating elements of folk, gothic, drone and experimental rock, as on Children of God (1987), The Burning World (1989), White Light from the Mouth of Infinity (1991) and Soundtracks for the Blind (1996). Dissolved in 1997, Swans were revived by Michael Gira in 2010 with a core group of musicians including Norman Westberg, Christoph Hahn, Phil Puleo and Christopher Pravdica. This new period developed long pieces based on accumulation, rhythmic trance and variations in density, heard on My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky (2010), The Seer (2012), To Be Kind (2014) and The Glowing Man (2016). Since 2019 Swans have operated with a more fluid lineup and continued this work on Leaving Meaning (2019), The Beggar (2023) and Birthing (2025), remaining prominent on experimental rock stages in Europe and North America.