Review Summary: Epic, apocalyptic soundscapes - a nihilistic, sobering yet energetic assault on the ears.
To Be Kind is the thirteenth release by American band Swans - whose sound on this album can only be described as experimental, primal and terrifying. Since coming off hiatus in 2010 to release My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky, the band have evolved markedly. With My Father... and their 2012 release The Seer, Swans have sculpted a new style which incorporates folk, noise and drone into their older mould of goth rock, industrial and no-wave. They have married the older and newer styles together in a visceral matrimony.
A recurring theme of the album, found in tracks such as Screen Shot and Some Things We Do, is long periods of repetition. Screen Shot especially makes use of this repetition - Michael Gira, with his repetition of "no ___ (suffering, lust, fear etc.) The underlying, repetitive riff further adds to a sense of resistance, the song itself seems to be a rejection of many human fears and thoughts. This repetition reminded me of two other points in Swans' career - vocally, the song Cop (on the album of the same name), and instrumentally I was reminded of the repetitive yet almost groove-like riffs present in The Great Annihilator (the song Celebrity Lifestyle in particular). Yet, this repetition never becomes boring - in fact, it contributes to a feeling of tension throughout the album. Tension rightfully placed, for it leads, in songs such as A Little God in My Hands, to a sonic wall of devastation. Swans incorporate elements of drone extremely well into To Be Kind, not dissimilar to the terrifying droning of The Seer's title track. They incorporate the same gruesome, crawling horns and synths and all manner of instrumentation. Yet, it never seems overtly chaotic - in fact, it seems somewhat structured and comes in waves.
Gira's vocals (and those contributed by other artists) on this album are interesting at their worst and absolutely mesmerizing at their best. Just A Little Boy displays Gira in a new, unsettling and disturbing fashion. The laugh track sample on this song certainly knocked me off centre - whilst it would sound benign in any other place, following Gira's vocals it seems sinister and mocking. Perhaps it is the vocals on Oxygen that take the throne as the most maniacal of Gira's work yet, second maybe to the Filth EP. The vocals in Oxygen and Just a Little Boy would not be out of place on a wildly more experimental album a la Xiu Xiu.
This album sits amongst the strongest of Swans' work, bested only, in my opinion, by Soundtracks for the Blind. It is visceral, unforgiving, apocalyptic and noisy. It penetrates the eardrums and leaves nothing behind yet leaves you wanting more of it. Truly a wonderful piece of art, testament to how sound can be used to invoke emotions that we do not usually wish for it to.
