Mmm, hi everyone! HmmThony HmmTano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this Swans album, Newly Sentient Being.

Yes, here we have a new live album from New York experimental rock legends Swans, which is supposed to be the final release, the final breath, the final note of the band's big sound era. A period in the group's lengthy trajectory that its mastermind, Michael Gira, as much as I love him, seems to have really wrung dry before he takes his music in a new direction for the foreseeable future.

Now, at this point on the channel, I have discussed Swans' various iterations, histories, and mysteries at length, maybe not at the length of your average Swans album these days, but at length. The unique and pioneering releases they dropped in the early days of the band are well-documented.

Numerous classics in the lanes of noise rock, gothic rock, post and experimental rock. And their impact on those styles can be heard on records they dropped 40 years ago or 13 years ago.

Now, along the way in its history, at one point Swans experienced a self-imposed "death period" in the late '90s that, of course, led to a years-long hiatus. And when Michael did eventually reform a new version of Swans over a decade later, what would follow is a run of albums that would make for one of the greatest and most massive comebacks in underground rock ever.

Numerous mind-blowing projects that were built on hypnotic progressions, large ensembles of musicians, and mountainous song lengths which would come to define this big sound era. Projects like The Seer, To Be Kind, The Glowing Man, along with many live albums, too, and tours. A few of which I've caught myself, and they were very powerful and hard to put into words.

By the end of the 2010s, Michael began to make it clear that this era for Swans was going to be coming to an end. Creatively, 2019's Leaving Meaning, which I think is maybe the most predictable album of this time period, did start to make this iteration of the Swans project start to feel like an exercise in diminished returns. However, the band did manage to get a few more juggernaut projects out of this long goodbye.

One, The Beggar, which seemed to reflect deeply on this period of Swans coming to a close, and even featured some experimental collage work not too unlike moments on their last major swan song project, Soundtracks For The Blind. And there was also Birthing, which conversely revolves around a lot of themes of reformation and new beginnings.

Now, of course, this farewell would not be complete without a goodbye in-person, too. So the band spent a good deal of 2025 touring behind all of this send-off material, and this final live album, here, of the big sound era was said to be captured during the final performance of that 2025 tour toward the end of November in Berlin. And not only does this project include expanded versions of "Paradise is Mine," as well as "The Merge" from The Beggar and Birthing, respectively.

But it also has three new tracks that range from 14 to 39 to 53 minutes, totaling two hours and 40 minutes of runtime. Yeah, Swans are definitely not beating the gothic jam band allegations on this one.

But I'd argue the length and immersion are very much the point, especially in the final stages of this period for the band. Cause, in so many ways, what I think they've been doing is perfecting their own spin on transcendental and spiritual music. Which is why so many songs from this era feature atmospheric effects, entrancing riffs, endless drones, gradual builds, repetition, repetition, repetition, enveloping layers of sound, and otherworldly lyricism, too.

And understanding the full power of that, to me, has always meant experiencing that live at some point, and seeing how far the band can, like, spread its tendrils on many of these tracks. Which is why this era has so heavily emphasized live albums and recordings. Now, of course, some of the biggest fan faves in the Swans catalog have been live albums for quite a long time, for example, Public Castration is a Good Idea.

But the big sound era definitely resulted in the most impressive and consistent crop of these albums, from We Rose From Your Bed With The Sun In Our Head to Not Here Not Now and many more. And when you view Newly Sentient Being in the scope of that, it's especially impressive. Because it's probably the best recorded and engineered live album of the bunch.

To the point where it sounds as well-balanced and as crisp and as clean as a proper Swans studio album. And while I wouldn't say hearing these tracks recorded are as thrilling as literally seeing the band live, it's pretty close. And leaves me wondering when we will see another group that'll perfect the rock ensemble dynamic in the way that Swans did over this period. Because, while you could argue that Michael's writing wasn't always the best through the entirety of this era, as I think it did lose a bit of novelty toward the end, this live recording still proves the band ended things having their dynamics down to a science, a perfect science.

With the thunderous walls of instrumentation and subtle builds on this thing, feeling like I'm listening to the rock equivalent of a full orchestra. So yeah, the sound on this thing is great, the background is sound, but is the material itself any good? Personally, I think so.

We could start with what's familiar, namely "The Merge," which the version we hear on this live album is more than double the length of, the studio original. And while it doesn't feature the vocal snippets and heavily edited arrangements that kind of define that version here, that's really no matter because the quicker tempo, heavier bass, and layered percussion more than make up for that in the first leg, as the band progressively builds on the same tight 3/4 groove and really slowly rock the hell out of it with wailing leads, stuttering synthesizers, until they reach a peak of noise and volume that feels like constant, heavy, pounding waves on a stormy sea.

Eventually, this all breaks away into a passage of dark psychedelia and gradually intensifies along the vocal performance Michael is giving, where he feels like he's giving a tortured sermon of sorts, and the religious vibes of this track only increase as the band introduces these heavenly synth chords and images of angels burning.

As the track comes to a close, there's a pretty funny outro with some banter where Michael makes mention of, 'Yes, this is this is the only time, this'll be heard this is this is the last time, never to be played again. Final time, everyone, final time, last, last chance to hear this, it's done.'

In addition to this, like I said earlier, there is, in this track list too, a slightly longer version of the track "Paradise Is Mine," whose studio version for this particular era of Swans, instrumentally, progression-wise, is pretty standard to me. However, this live iteration here with its buzzing guitar noises and watery keys and odd psychobabble from Michael, along with, generally, a more eccentric and animated vocal performance, just makes this live version much more interesting, I think.

Not to mention the main grooves are so spacious and much more immersive in the live context as well. And again, with this version having a bigger finish on top of it, I would just rather rock with this one than what's on the, the, the original record.

But when it comes to the material that's unique to Newly Sentient Being, we of course have "The End of Forgetting," the opener, which is about 40 minutes in length and yes, very much not eager to start this record off too fast. And while I wouldn't say the droning layers and skipping one-chord grooves that start the song off are a stroke of compositional genius, they're still a serene beauty to all of these refined layers that, to me, rivals some of the most breathtaking moments of a Godspeed album or two.

This section loses me a little bit toward its final moments, but once these chord progressions start to turn more sinister and the distortion and volume are turned up, the band is cooking with heat once again. Until they create a deranged, almost infinite wall of noise. And then, the ending of this track, in my opinion, is absolutely fantastic. You have these heavy riffs that are punctuated with these super dramatic floor tom fills and top with these warring, darting, harmonized guitar leads that, again, I think makes for one of the greatest and even most tear-inducing finishes of any Swans piece from this time period.

Later down the road, of course, we have the 53-minute title track, which – yeah, 53-minute song on a live Swans album, why the fuck not? And of course, like anything else the band is doing at this length, this piece works in multiple phases. This piece works in multiple phases, this piece works in multiple phases.

There's an almost impenetrable intro that lasts about ten minutes, and consists mostly of pounding riffs in 3-4, which is really the pulse, the backbone of many sections of this album. Eventually, this ferocity lets up and we are given these rushing waves of sound that hit again and again and again, really kinda further pushing those hypnotic qualities.

And when lyrics do eventually enter the picture, it's one of Michael's most theatrical performances, as he really does sound like a supernatural being or a god gaining consciousness for the first time. The driving, proggy rock riffs and keys that bring us out of this section hit a pretty nice groove, though the peak they eventually hit is a little mild to my ears. The much spacier outro after this, which is kinda decorated with just a little bit of harmonica, is much more awe-inspiring. And once again, I'm impressed at just how engaging the band remains within a piece that lasts this length.

Now, the final track on the album is the 14-minute "The End of Regretting," which is essentially a chill, minor outro by Swans' standards of the "big sound" era. The first notable lyrics of the track, as well, are essentially Michael slowly naming off each member of the band's live performance unit here, which really kinda makes the song feel not quite as essential as the four tracks prior.

It's almost kind of a, I would say, a credits roll moment, you could say. But yeah, overall, that is the final live album of the Swans' "big sound" era. During its worst moments, just like many of the weakest tracks from the past several Swans albums, it was kinda predictable.

But during its highest highs, which there were quite a few of those, it was heavy, it was crushing, it was captivating, it sounded fantastic, it was immersive, it was expansive, I loved hearing familiar material, broadened out, and honestly, in so many ways, improved. And I also liked hearing the band send things off with a few more massive, massive pieces before they finally just closed the door on this thing.

At this point, especially with a live album, the band may only be appealing to their biggest diehards at this point. To me, that doesn't really take away from how impressive this feat was not only singularly as a live album, but also just as a send-off for this incredible period in the band's catalog. Which is why I'm feeling about a strong 7 to a light 8 on this one.

Anthony Fantano. Swans. Live. Forever.