The Great Annihilator

The Great Annihilator is the ninth studio album by American experimental rock band Swans. It was released on January 23, 1995, through frontman Michael Gira's own record label, Young God. The album has been described by Gira as a companion album to his solo album Drainland (1995); the two were remastered and re-released together in April 2017.

Content

The album features a shift towards more prominent melodies and cleaner production than Swans' earlier work. Lyrical subjects include death and the human condition. Music critic Saby Reyes-Kulkarni, writing for Pitchfork, describing band leader Michael Gira's singing style on much of the album says "[Gira] leers as if doing a self-consciously evil take on Johnny Cash".

The album begins with an instrumental track with sounds of children's laughter and chanting. After this, the track "I Am The Sun" features Gira and Jarboe alternating on vocals over an instrumental with a "manic drive". The song features tempo changes and "careful" spaces of quiet between "blasts" of instrumentation.

Louder Sound's Dom Lawson describes the song "Celebrity Lifestyle" as a "weirdly catchy no-wave hoedown". Lyrically, the song features the topic of romanticization of celebrities.

The song "Killing For Company" is based on the crimes of the Scottish serial killer Dennis Nilsen, who claimed to have killed his victims due to loneliness. Dom Lawson described the song as "an object lesson in sonic unease", and, alongside "Celebrity Lifestyle", one of the band's "most devastating moments".

The song "Where Does A Body End?" has the same lyrics as the song "Where Does Your Body Begin?" from Drainland, linking the two "companion albums" together.

Critical reception

The Great Annihilator received a generally positive reception from critics. AllMusic called the album "an epic, incredible work of art." Trouser Press, on the other hand, wrote that the album "reveals [...] that the band is running out of ideas", commenting that is "unlikely to satisfy long-term followers. A more accessible Swans may also be a less cathartic one."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from The Great Annihilator liner notes.

References