Swans’ My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky finds Michael Gira seamlessly shifting from Angels Of Light mode to the heavier, noisier realm of his earlier incarnation(s), adding newfound details, nuances, and unexpected elements in the process. This isn’t a surprise: When I spoke with Gira about it last January he told me “[the] approach will be basically where Soundtracks For The Blind/Swans Are Dead left off, with influence of Angels of Light in there too. Probably pretty severe tho, according to my present mood…” What that description doesn’t let you in on is the actual strong quality of the songs. The purists may want to crucify me, but Swans’ first studio album since Soundtracks is also one of Swans’ best, most relentlessly dark and beautiful albums to date. Gira remains angry/venomous, but he’s introduced a kind of time-won wisdom (and guest spot via his three-year-old daughter) you wouldn’t find in the nihilistic ’80s. Get acquainted via the whirlwind (and shivers) kicked up by “Eden Prison.”

Swans – “Eden Prison”

My Father…

01 “No Words/No Thoughts”
02 “Reeling the Liars In”
03 “Jim”
04 “My Birth”
05 “You Fucking People Make Me Sick”
06 “Inside Madeline”
07 “Eden Prison”
08 “Little Mouth”

My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky is out 9/27 via Young God. As mentioned, Haunting The Chapel worked with the Blackened Music Series and ISSUE Project Room to bring Swans to the Brooklyn Masonic Temple in October. All the dates:

09/28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero Theater #
09/29 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat #
09/30 – Boston, MA @ Middle East downstairs #
10/01 – Montreal, QC @ Le National (Pop Montreal Fest) #
10/02 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace #
10/04 – Detroit, MI @ Crofoot Ballroom #
10/05 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge #
10/06 – Columbus, OH @ Outland Live #
10/08 – Brooklyn, NY @ Masonic Temple #
10/09 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom #
10/21 – Cork, Ireland @ Cyprus Avenue %
10/22 – Dublin, Ireland @ Button Factory %
10/23 – TBA
10/24 – Birmingham, UK @ Supersonic Festival %
10/25 – Glasgow, Scotland @ Arches %
10/27 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 %
10/28 – London, UK @ Koko Theatre %
10/29 – Leeds, UK @ Uni Stylus %
10/30 – Manchester UK @ Academy %
11/23 – Gronignen, Netherlands @ VERA %
11/24 – Utrecht, Netherlands @ Le Guess Who Fest at Tivoli de Helling %
11/25 – Brussels @ Belgium AB %
11/26 – Lille, France @ Le Grande Mix %
11/27 – Rouen, France @ 106 Club %
11/28 – Paris, France @ BBMIX festival %
11/30 – Toulouse, France @ Le Phare %
12/01 – Lyon, France @ Epicerie Modern %
12/02 – Geneva, Switzerland @ L’Usine %
12/03 – Turin, Italy @ Musica90 c/o Sala Espace %
12/04 – Bologna, Italy @ Locomotive Club %
12/05 – Roma, Italy @ Piper Club %
12/07 – Vienna, Austria @ at Arena %
12/08 – Prague, Czech @ Akropolis %
12/09 – Wroclaw, Poland @ Firlej %
12/10 – Warsaw, Poland @ Palladium %
12/12 – Hamburg, Germany @ Kampnagel %
12/13 – Berlin, Germany @ Volksbuehne %

# w/ Baby Dee
% w/ James Blackshaw