TRACK PREMIERE: Manchester's gonzo sludge triplets Under display their "Innards"

Under are a trio from Stockport, Greater Manchester. Though rooted in the blueprints of sludge and doom metal, their sound is harder to pin down with elements of prog, noise and avant garde creeping in. Under play with jagged, slow, off kilter riffs that tease the listener into a false sense of security. With dark and abstract lyricism evoking a trippy and sinister unease, the trio cite Swans, Mr. Bungle, Melvins and Radiohead as prime influences.

After the success of their debut EP 'First Attempt', Under built up a solid reputation playing frequent live shows in and out of Manchester and in 2016 they embarked on a successful UK mini-tour with Kurokuma.

'Slick' is their highly anticipated debut full length album, completely self produced and recorded by the band themselves. The trio have successfully built on everything they have been working towards, carefully fine-tuning every detail on the record. This eclectic listen is chock full of crushing riffs, odd time signatures, and a mixture of aggressive screaming vocals juxtaposed against a backdrop of more relaxed tripped out clean sections. With all three band members providing vocals, often harmonising together to create epic melodic textures. The record's bizarre lyrics, out there vibes and unpredictability will surely pull in listeners for repeat listens. 

'Slick' is destined to be one of those special records where you hear something new with each listen and today we’re excited to premiere a track from the album ahead of its official release via APF Records, ahead of its official release on May 31st 2017.  So if you’re fan of Melvins, Big Business, Swans, Faith No More, Dillinger Escape Plan, Mr. Bungle, check out the track “Innards” below.  'Slick' will be initially released on CD and Digital formats. So be sure to preorder a copy here

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Ohhms - "The Fool"

By: Stephen Murray

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 31/03/2017

Label: Holy Roar Records

“The Fool” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Shuffle, Cut and Reveal

2). The Magician

3). The Hanged Man

4). The World

5). The Lovers

6). The Hierophant

The Review:

This is not doom. Even less is it sludge. The influence of those genres can be felt, but to understand Ohhms under those terms is misleading.

Three years on since Ohhms' first appearance outside the rehearsal room, it is still unclear who first applied these labels to the band, though there's no doubt that these are labels the group have done nothing to eschew. Speaking outside Camden's Black Heart in 2014 before their second ever gig, the deal with Holy Roar not yet in the bag, vocalist Paul had admitted as much. "To be quite honest I would be happy to be lumped in with the doom thing just because it's different and there [are] elements of doom in [our music]," he had said. And yet, out of the then 30 minute set they had, only eight minutes were described by Paul as doom. He'd timed it. So what are they? "Classic rock, if anything," he'd said then.

'The Fool' is the band's third release and the first that they consider to be a full-length, and the description 'classic rock' still sounds fairer than what is more usually thrown at them. There are definite hints of Pink Floyd’s more reflective moments, along with some guitar work that would not upset the 80s hard rock applecart. Though there is more going on here, and not just Dan working his way through his extensive pedal board of boutique guitar effects, or indeed anything particularly progladytic. Where Ohhms skirt the sludgey-doomy influence, it is filtered through post-something-or-other and is akin to grunge.

There they are in good company; though rather different, Germany’s Aleph Null also came in on a stoner tip but sound like the debt is actually made out in the name of grunge and psych rock, and that is no bad thing. To anyone who has been following Ohhms these last few years, this record will feel a very natural and subtle mutation. Paul still has his self-professed “singy and shouty, never screamy” vocals pushed through echo. Not psych rock meltiness, but a big room-feel. Chainy’s restless and nomadic bass still wanders widely in search of home. Max still offers a lyrical range of punctuation and backbone, though has stepped it up on the faster moments in “The Fool”. But despite the ready familiarity of the sound, the word that fell from my lips as the first listen came to a close was “surprising.”

One of the most striking things about this album is not the penultimate track, 'The Lovers,' (which, on first hearing, you would be forgiven for thinking a song penned by Phil Collins for a Disney soundtrack had somehow snuck its way in -- that may read as though it is intended to be a slur. It isn't.) Rather, it is most striking for its echoes of the band four fifths of Ohhms emerged from: The Babies Three.

Before taking on this review I had decided not to wake the dead; to allow Ohhms to be judged independently of that past. But not only do some of the guitar lines seem to recall that heritage, but the lyrics to the album’s closer, ‘The Hierophant,’ are lifted wholesale from File Under Retaliation’s ‘Rotten Apples’. As the lyric says: “Recurring themes throughout my life.”

The original mission statement may have been Swans circa “1984”, but it was never quite to be. Instead there’s something more organic. Ohhms shoot new blooms from deep roots, laying out their generational history as they evolve as musicians.

“The Fool” is available here

 Band info: bandcamp || facebook

"Like Converge played at Half Speed": An Interview with Hammerhands & Exclusive Song Premiere of "Thunderchunk"

In 2013 Toronto’s Hammerhands’ released an undeniable powerhouse of a record. The band’s debut full length “Glaciers” exhibited Hammerhands’ sonic dominance in a submissive scene. The band continued to turn heads, playing numerous shows, proving to their growing audience that men of average height can create giant sound. Hammerhands subsequently released a cover EP called “1995” which paid tribute to the year that the band’s initial spark of musical inspiration occurred.

Despite “1995” being an entertaining and engaging love letter to the past, it was not enough to fill the chasm of anticipation created by the release of “Glaciers”. After three years of waiting for new material, Hammerhands is releasing their second full length “Largo Forte”. “Largo Forte” is a huge step forward for the band without departing from the elements that define Hammerhands. 

The record often digresses to unsettling nods to Italian genre film scores and Cohen-esque vocal styles, juxtaposing crushing jams with cinematic atmosphere. Hammerhands establishes an auditory narrative with “Largo Forte” that takes you on a fulfilling journey that is both beautiful and blasphemous. With “Largo Forte”, the future of Hammerhands seems promising. The band’s off-kilter approach to their distinct style creates a new dimension to their musical canon. As the band continue to push themselves down the road of devastation, one can only be curious as to how they will top something so bold and interesting.

“Largo Forte” will be released on September 15^th and today we offer you the first taste of this exceptionally bludgeoning new record, in the form of “Thunderchunk”.  We also hooked up with Collin from the band to get the low down about their history, the recording process of the record and why they sound like “a Converge record played at half speed"”.  

SL: Can you give us an insight into how you started playing music, leading up to the formation of Hammerhands

Collin: Jon and I started playing together as 13 year olds, and went through various terrible musical phases until forming The Love and Terror Cult like ten years ago. We ended up playing a lot with NJ's bands Dance Electric and Strawman Fallacy. For some reason, all those bands seemed to dissolve around the same time, so it seemed natural to join forces. Our previous bands were all spastic and hyperactive, so we made a conscious effort to go in the opposite direction. We recruited Justin because he's awesome and always moshed the hardest at our shows.

SL: For folks unfamiliar with your band, are there any bands, on the scene past and present that you would use as a reference point band to describe your band, and is there anyone who  continues to inspire you and push you to try new things?

Collin: A review of our previous record said we sounded like "a Converge record played at half speed" and I've always liked that description. I think The Melvins have been a strong influence for some time, but they're kinda like The Beatles of sludge, and any band within the genre owes some debt to them really. Some bands within our scene that we take inspiration from are Godstopper, who we frequently have the pleasure of sharing the stage with, and Mare who we used to play with in our older bands and in many ways inspired us to start doing what we do now.

SL: What can you tell us about your upcoming record and where do you feel it sits within the context of current heavy music scene

Collin: What I'm hoping will come across with this new record is a sense of diversity. While I love the idea of extreme music pushing things to the limit, I find too often that bands of our genre will get stuck on a particular sound then ride it out until it's exhausted. We tried to take this record in as many different directions as we could while still maintaining a common thread.

SL: What was the mood in the camp going into the recording of the record

Collin: It's been overall a pretty relaxed process. We don't have any deadlines to meet, and we do all the recording and mixing ourselves, so we've always been able to work at a pace that's comfortable for us. We took our time writing the songs until we were confident that we had something solid, and we took the time working on the tracking, mixing and mastering until we felt it sounded good. And we've ended up with something we're all quite happy with.

SL: What can fans look forward to from you over the next 12 months? How is your schedule shaping up?

Collin: No immediate plans just yet. Looking forward to being able to break out the new tracks at gigs and seeing how they're received. We'd like to eventually put the record on wax, so if anyone would like to help us out with that, hit us up, please!

Hammerhands will play a release show on September 16th in Toronto with Godstopper and Foreigns.

“Largo Forte” track listing;

1). Eighteen

2). THUNDERCHUNK

3). High Plains

4). Largo Forte

5). Mezzo Grave

6). If You're Not Part Of The Party, You’re Part Of The Problem

7). Where We Go 
8).Darkerness 
9). The Hardest Thing

Band info: Facebook ||Bandcamp

Bloodiest - "Bloodiest" (Album Review)

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 15/01/2016

Label: Relapse Records

“Mesmerize” sets the tone for events to come. The band launch straight into a rumbling, menacing riff, like Tool jamming with The Jesus Lizard while Shellac look on approvingly. This track exemplifies what Bloodiest do so well on this LP; relentless repetition of a phrase, letting it slowly transform while building towards a furious climax. They manage to do this in a fluid, hypnotic fashion, avoiding the pitfalls of obvious quiet/loud dynamics.  There is a lot of great, heavy music around today, but it’s rare to hear something as fresh and compelling as this LP. Bloodiest have crafted an incredible piece of work here, challenging without being difficult and crushing without always resorting to amplification-overload.

“Bloodiest” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Mesmerize

2). The Widow

3). Condition

4). Broken Teeth

5). Mind Overlaps

6). He Is Disease

7). Separation

8). Suffer

The Review:

“Supergroups” inspire high expectations. In the case of Bloodiest’s new self-titled LP these preconceptions are met and then some. The Chicago band features current and former members of a diverse array of awesome acts such as Yakuza, Russian Circles, Minsk and 90 Day Men. As well as sounding like a perfectly proportioned mix of these other projects, the brilliance of this album eclipses all their previous work.

The record begins with the aptly titled “Mesmerize”, setting the tone for events to come. The band launch straight into a rumbling, menacing riff, like Tool jamming with The Jesus Lizard while Shellac look on approvingly. This track exemplifies what Bloodiest do so well on this LP; relentless repetition of a phrase, letting it slowly transform while building towards a furious climax. They manage to do this in a fluid, hypnotic fashion, avoiding the pitfalls of obvious quiet/loud dynamics.

Tracks like “Broken Teeth” and “He Is Disease” hit a perfect middle ground between weighty, metal attack and jagged, noise-rock angularity. The latter is the heaviest number here, melding huge Melvins riffs to the widescreen ambition of Swans with restless math-rock touches creeping in as time progresses.

The highlight of the album comes when Bloodiest venture furthest from the realms of metal. “The Widow” begins with a minimal bass and drums throb, soon joined by eerie acoustic guitar and piano. The track then slowly unfurls over its 8-minute duration as an epic, brooding slow-burn. Bruce Lamont’s vocals are strong throughout the album but they really come into their own here, his half-spoken croon, heightening the drama. The overall effect is like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds taking on the gothic darkness of Oxbow’s “Serenade in Red”.

There is a lot of great, heavy music around today, but it’s rare to hear something as fresh and compelling as this LP. Bloodiest have crafted an incredible piece of work here, challenging without being difficult and crushing without always resorting to amplification-overload.

“Bloodiest” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

The Canyon Observer - "FVCK" (Album Review)

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 20/11/2016

Label: Kapa Records

The Canyon Observer takes the epic song structures and dynamic shifts of post-metal but filter it through an ugly lens.  There are extended melodic passages here reminiscent of ISIS’ more serene moments but here the smooth edges have been worn down to give a darker, gnarlier texture.  The Canyon Observer create a really captivating world of noise on “FVCK” by taking familiar influences and moulding them into compelling new forms.

“FVCK” CD//DD///LP track listing:

1). Luscious Red

2). Bounds Tied Tight

3). Lost In Silence

4). All of Her, Mine

The Review:

Nothing arouses my suspicion quite like the use of v’s in place of u’s. At first glance I feared the worst of The Canyon Observer’s new full-length, the charmingly titled “FVCK”, but I shouldn’t have worried. The Slovenian quintet offer a welcome fresh approach to the well-worn tropes of post-metal, far removed from any bandwagon jumping wannabe true black metal.

“FVCK” is not devoid of any black metal influence though, as evidenced by the frantic bursts of rage that open “Luscious Red” and “All of Her, Mine”.  This is just one of many moods the band embraces though during the three monolithic compositions that make up the bulk of the album. The Canyon Observer takes the epic song structures and dynamic shifts of post-metal but filter it through an ugly lens. There are extended melodic passages here reminiscent of ISIS’ more serene moments but here the smooth edges have been worn down to give a darker, gnarlier texture. The band’s powerful rhythm section lays down dirty basslines and rumbling, tom-heavy beats akin to Swans and Shellac. This noise rock feel brings a gritty tone to “FVCK”, aided no-end by the sporadic appearance of some filthy, no-nonsense sludge riffs.

Albums crammed with massive ten minute tracks can often crumble under the weight of their ambition and become a chore for the listener. The Canyon Observer recognises this and keeps the overall running time tight and break up the lengthy complex tracks with the briefer tracks such as “Lost in Silence”. Based around an eerie three note synth refrain, the band slowly add more layers with each repetition before their restraint gives way to fury at the track’s climax, frayed, howling vocals adding another level of intensity.

The Canyon Observer create a really captivating world of noise on “FVCK” by taking familiar influences and moulding them into compelling new forms. Once the silence descends following the stereo-mangling studio trickery that closes the album you’ll be wanting to press play and subject yourself to it all over again.

“Fvck” is available here

Band info: facebook

Cult Leader - 'Lightless Walk' (Album Review)

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 16/10/2015

Label: Deathwish Inc

Cult Leader have created a monster here, a perfect combination of brains and brutality. There’s enough going on to suggest that “Lightless Walk” is just the start of an intriguing journey to the outer limits of heavy music.

‘Lightless Walk’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

01. Great I Am
02. The Sorrower
03. Sympathetic
04. Suffer Louder
05. Broken Blades
06. A Good Life
07. Walking Wastelands
08. Gutter Gods
09. Hate Offering
10. How Deep It Runs
11. Lightless Walk

Cult Leader is:

Michael Mason | Guitar
Casey Hansen | Drums
Anthony Lucero | Vocals
Sam Richards | Bass

The Review:

Once the cavernous thud and gut churning chords heralding the arrival of opener “Great I Am” have drawn your attention, there’s no escaping the dark gravity of Cult Leader’s sonic barrage. ”Lightless Walk” is the debut full length from this Salt Lake City quartet who count three former members of the fearsome Gaza in their ranks. The naked aggression of their past work remains intact here but the band is now pushing their art further into uncharted territory with spellbinding results. Once this beast has been let loose into the world, interest in previous band associations will soon crumble to dust.

Cult Leader combine furious grind, crusty hardcore, punk grit and the widescreen atmospherics of black metal to devastating effect. The majority of the tracks here are a dizzying breakneck assault on the senses, sounding like a psychedelic Trap Them or Converge set in concrete and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. Tracks like “Walking Wasteland” and “Sympathetic” manage to cover more musical ground during their brief duration than most bands do in an album at no detriment to cohesion. The finale of the latter particularly showcases the powerhouse drumming of Casey Hansen, a key factor in the success of this record. While the guitar and bass lock into a punishing one chord groove, the drums become the lead instrument, weaving around the riff and slipping in and out of the beat in sublime fashion. They provide furious velocity when needed throughout the album but demonstrate exquisite control when the tempo drops.

“A Good Life” and “How Deep It Runs” show that Cult Leader can slow things down and apply restraint with no impact on quality or intensity. Both tracks have a hint of the spaced-out post metal of Cult of Luna and provide real depth to this album.

“Lightless Walk” concludes with the monumental title track. Whilst this is the quietest track here in terms of volume it is definitely the heaviest in terms of emotional damage. The band craft a bleak funeral march worthy of the titular final voyage into the beyond, with Anthony Lucero’s low half-sung, half spoken vocals providing the haunting details. Lucero’s ferocious harsh vocals are the perfect accompaniment to brutal chaos, but when he employs his clean baritone here and on “A Good Life” it leads to something unique. As the vocals fade away, the music becomes slower and sparser, evoking an air of weary resignation reminiscent of slowcore heroes Codeine. 

Cult Leader have created a monster here, a perfect combination of brains and brutality. There’s enough going on to suggest that “Lightless Walk” is just the start of an intriguing journey to the outer limits of heavy music.

‘Lightless Walk’ is available here

FFO: Converge, Gaza, Swans, Trap Them

Band info: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Fvnerals - 'The Path' 7inch (Review)

By: James Harris  

Album Type: 7inch

Date Released: 03/08/2015

Label: Eerie Echoes|
Throne Records

 

There are not a lot of bands that are easily comparable to FVNERALS, as they effortlessly draw together various elements of such sounds as if Swans and My Bloody Valentine had a sleek, crooning child in an underground speakeasy.

‘The Path’ DD//7inch track listing:

1.Solemn (05:53)
2.Ruin (04:57)

The Review:

I once compared this band to Chelsea Wolfe and Earth, but on this EP FVNERALS have further matured into a unique middle path between melodic gloom and bleak monochrome doom sensibilities. These two tracks elevate the darkness and sense of style and groove that made me love their last offering, last year's 'The Light' (review) so much while adding an added menace to their sound in the form of some extraordinary funereal riffing on the second track, ‘Ruin’, this new jagged edge makes a great counterpoint to their sparse, subtle lounge-drone tone, clashing in a crushing back-and-forth that is their most exceptional material to date.  

The first song, ‘Solemn’ opens with melodic, harmonizing layers of vocals that seem to waver between optimistic tunefulness and an example of the drone to come. Still, expansive, but stark, this band has always made great use of empty space between the sounds and this record is no exception. A big emptiness exists between every instrument, a space they sometimes attempt to fill, sometimes seem to shrink from, but never ignore. A chiming guitar over smoky candle lit cabaret motif dragged through the tomb, organ drones under the spectral voice of singer Tiffany. The silence between songs is abruptly shattered, big, loud chords pounding sluggishly in the intro to ‘Ruin’ before abruptly stopping. The intervening moment heavy in its own fashion, with a dread-filled folk mesmerism. A plaintive and spooky clean guitar icily winds its way around the fog and darkness before the hook brings back the wickedly heavy riffs of the intro.

There are not a lot of bands that are easily comparable to FVNERALS, as they effortlessly draw together various elements of such sounds as if Swans and My Bloody Valentine had a sleek, crooning child in an underground speakeasy. They have drifted from the sometimes sneaky sleazy timbre of ‘The Light’ toward a more sincere, direct, path of abjection. A straight walk down a moonless road, barefoot on the rocks. The only complaint I have is that it should be much longer, as it is over before you realize it.

‘The Path’ is available here and here

FFO: Chelsea Wolfe, Earth, Swans, My Blood Valentine

Band info: official  | bandcamp

Choice Cuts: Swans - Cop (1984)

Years Active: 1982 – 1997, 2010 – Present

Records to Date: 13

Genre: Noise Rock, No Wave, Industrial

Label: Young God, Neutral, Homestead, Caroline,
Uni/MCA, Invisible, Atavistic, Mute

The Band:

• Michael Gira | vocals, tapes, production
• Harry Crosby | bass guitar
• Norman Westberg | guitar
• Roli Mosimann | drums, production

Review:

A ritual of humiliation. An endurance test.  A glorification of submission, even as it is repeatedly proven weak, unsafe, and horrific.  An ugly tombstone over buried happiness.

The opening riff of ‘Half Life’ never ends, grinding you down as effectively as it grinds the laborer of the lyrics, passive and crushed by an obscene but far from otherworldly tyrant. In fact, the real-ness of their pessimism, unburdened (on this album, at least) by concerns for the metaphysical, adds an urgency to lyrics such as "ambition is senseless don’t make a wrong move work with a purpose"...sounding for all the world like a fellow prisoner of the Machine whispering the "rules" to a newcomer, an outsider, in an effort to help him understand his place and the hopelessness of any attempt to deviate from the Work. The constant downward trajectory of the main phrase drags you ever deeper into this machinery, into the hole. A pervasive atmosphere of meaningless toil and futility numbs you into accepting it.

The lurching stutter of ‘Job’ (track 2) splits this inelegant droning with a confused "waking up" that slowly solidifies into a grooving chant, an effort to regain some feeling of the natural, of something organic. From there it begins slipping into and out of rhythm while equally wavering between the elemental and the structural, between tearing apart and desperately gripping. The song culminates with an exhausted wearing down, carrying the burden of heartache as a mantra until collapse.

The third track ‘Why Hide’ opens on firmer ground, insistent bass and solid, compact drumming providing an ominous foreground for the exorcising of an overwhelming lyrical nihilism. Bathing in a crushing lockstep, Michael Gira shouts why hide the lie?? Over and over as if THIS was the moment he was waiting for to ask the question of his abuser. As if his oppressor was looking through him, dead-eyed, as he recorded the vocals.

Barely a pause for breath between tracks, but those silences are a welcome glimpse outside the isolation this album evokes. These are not dance songs. You are fitted for the collar from the first seconds and it never relents in its exertion of power and domination. The listener is never in a position of control, is never allowed to relate to the dominant perspective even when (especially when) those perspectives are shown. There are only brief moments where the pain and discipline let up to take a deep breath before intensifying. ‘Clay Man’ wastes little time establishing a musical corollary to the dissonant drive into sexual submission. The ghoulish lines "get into this car bow your head down" over painfully grinding mechanical drones twist the Work alluded to in previous tracks into an obedient acceptance. Unexpected chokes and lunges in the noise feel like the moment a bone breaks or a dentist wrenches a tooth free, the onset of a panic attack, an unwilling orgasm. The last minute brings with it an undeniable pulsing heaviness that, almost ironically, forces you to bob your head in time as it sucks the air from your lungs. Maximum volume, indeed.

‘Your Property’ disguises itself well as a rebellious shout at Control, until you realise it as the desperate howls of someone learning it was their own weakness that led to control in the first place. Authority is corrupt and corrupts, Authority is worshipped nonetheless. To be trapped in this is perceived as an ultimate weakness and the vocals grow harsher, the music more nakedly aggressive as it briefly loses a pretence of subtlety. Inward contempt is far more malign than any exterior assault.

Track six, ‘Cop’. This is where it gets dark.  It slithers in sinister, sleazy, initially maintaining a calm demeanour. Proclaiming "the punishment fits the crime" and judging the guilty in a combination holding cell/execution chamber over an unhealthy melody that, despite being nearly atonal, subtly reinforces the infectious reptilian menace of this song's mood. As the beating continues, the music keeps steady as a metronome, placidly describing atrocity with an almost-accessible laid back throbbing. Through the primary section the perspective never fully sets on victim or bystander until finally collapsing into a hypnotic, martial agony that (in a ferocious dichotomy) gradually but spectacularly crumbles and bursts until nothing is left.

After all the build-up of intensity, all the intentional and directed increase in depth and hostility, ‘Butcher’ is all hanging tension. A pause in a relentless attack on the Self juuuusst long enough to see outside and warn someone. "Don’t be a whore you could be screwing yourself", advice given from a position of intimate knowledge of a great darkness. The music never seems to resolve, solidifying the uncomfortable and unsettling feelings elicited by words like "you're in the wrong skin I don't recognise your smell" and "you're too close".

Halting, squalling bursts of feedback scream above a strangled, sluggish drone that sets the stage for the final catharsis of degradation. ‘Thug’ is confrontational and provocative in a sneering passive aggression. "Obedience pays if you use it right", but "the only real thing's misery"…..words finally breaking down into paroxysm and even a seven second fade out feels suffocating and endless.

Having this album on repeat for a few hours in order to write about it pulled me through a significantly more visceral and challenging experience than I expected, even having heard the record quite a few times before. It forces one to inhabit all of the negative spaces it describes in ways most art (and even a great deal of the hostile stimuli referred to in the lyrics) can't come close to replicating, and it left me shaken, stretched thin, and feeling sickly afterward in such a way that almost overwhelms any possible cathartic value.

Words by: James Harris

You can pick up the record everywhere now

Album Details

Cop is the second studio album by American post-punk band Swans. It was released in 1984, through record label K.422.  AllMusic wrote of the album: "Ugly, compelling and overpowering, Cop remains the pinnacle of Swans' brutal early days", calling it "quite possibly one of the darkest recordings ever done

Cop was remastered by Michael Gira in 1992 for release on CD along with the Young God EP. The currently available edition combines Cop and Young God with the albums Greed and Holy Money. The packaging for all issues states that the recording is "designed to be played at maximum volume".

'Cop’ track listing:

1). Half Life 04:18

2). Job 04:46

3). Why Hide 05:50

4). Clay Man 05:05

5). Your Property 04:48

6). Cop 06:47

7). Butcher 04:02

8). Thug 05:12

For more information:

http://swans.pair.com/

http://younggodrecords.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SwansOfficial