Review Summary: By stripping absolutely every element of their past heaviness, Swans have crafted perhaps their most tuneful and accessible record, but it ultimately leaves something to be desired.
Whether one would like to admit it or not, Michael Gira is a genius when it comes to creating an aural environment through the power of music. There’s a reason certain reviews about Swans will often just talk about the images they conjure, and the amazing thing is that all of their albums create a different atmosphere. There’s the heaven and hell feel of
Children of God, the dark slums of New York City on
Cop, or the spacy
My Father Will Guide Me Up to the Sky, but
The Burning World is a bit of a black sheep in their discography. A number of factors contribute to this status though, so let’s examine this thing.
First and foremost, this is the first and only Swans release on a major label. As to be expected, there is a drastic change in sound. It’s pretty shocking knowing that this is the same band that made
Children of God only two years before, but there are some similarities between these two. As for changes though, nearly every element of Swans heavy side is gone, with no pounding bass and drums, barked vocals, or sudden walls of sound. For the most part, Gira keeps his singing at a folky level, with a sometimes Jim Morrison-like feel, and the walls of sound have been replaced by strings and acoustic guitar. Jarboe occasionally sings, and her voice sublimely glides over Gira’s instrumentation. All of this equates into the most accessible Swans record, but this is where it falls short.
While they incorporated folk elements into their sound in the past,
The Burning World sadly drags on in certain areas. Certain songs such as “The River That Runs With Love Won’t Run Dry”, “Mona Lisa, Mother Earth”, and “God Damn the Sun” exceed expectations, a large amount of the album feels like filler. “Saved”, “I Remember Who You Are”, and “Can’t Find My Way Home” all fall under this category unfortunately, despite showing potential. I’m not just saying this because I feel like the album needs their past heaviness, but certain songs don’t develop into much at all. Another factor is the fact that this sound has been done many times before, which results in a quite different approach than what Swans were known to do. Again, I’m not saying that they have to sound like absolutely nothing else on the planet, it’s just that this overall sound is kind of generic. Did Uni Records have something to do with this? Most likely yes, but they were kind of pointing towards this sound to be honest.
So overall,
The Burning World is a less than solid effort in the wide discography of Swans. This shouldn’t discourage you from checking out the few gems on this release, but the rest is generally uninteresting. Michael Gira himself abhors this record, and his claim might do it justice, but they would continue to take in elements of this release for later albums. If you’re looking for a softer Swans album, this might be for you, but if you’re looking for something more interesting, check out
White Light From the Mouth of Infinity. In conclusion, this is a bizarre album for Swans, but a passable one with some quite beautiful songwriting.
