Omniscience

• Artist: Swans
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1993 01
• Total Time: 56:50
• Type: Live
• Genre: Rock

Review

Beginning with the surging, sweeping crunch of "Mother's Milk," with some great Jarboe vocals over it all, Omniscience is a live album which benefits from the inclusion of some otherwise unrecorded or unreleased Swans tracks. Taken from dates on the 1992 Love of Life tour, the album showcases a newly solidified touring lineup of Gira, Jarboe, Steele, returning veteran Kizys, and Vincent Signorelli, drummer on the two previous albums. The sound is clear and sharp, a distinct change from the sometimes muddy official bootlegs of years past. Most of the familiar tracks are unsurprisingly from Love of Life, including "Her," "The Other Side of the World," and that album's title track in an extended take with a wholly new and incredibly dramatic instrumental coda. However, interesting choices like a version of Nick Drake's "Black Eyed Dog," originally done by Jarboe and Gira for the third Skin album, appear as well. "Will Serve" is a fantastic number appearing only here, starting with a delicate guitar intro and swiftly turning into a cinematic, soaring piece -- a lovely demonstration of Swans now at their newly inspiring best. "Amnesia" gets a particularly fierce take on the disc, with woodwind-like keyboards providing delicacy as the song rips along with further sonic touches like howling winds and breaking glass. Ending with a fine version of "God Bless America" and the new, slow-grinding "Omnipotent," Omniscience is yet another excellent addition to Swans' body of work. As an extra note, illustrations by Deryk Thomas, cover artist for the two studio albums previous to this release, are included in the CD booklet; continuing the child/rabbit theme of those covers, the paintings here are at once shockingly, horrifyingly violent and perversely beautiful, as perfect a complement to the band's work as any over the years. ~ Ned Raggett, Rovi

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