Michael Gira is an amazing musician, but one of a very few I never hope to meet. He must be so sad. Example of Swans lyrics (This stuff is great when there's just no hope anymore -- this is from the song Failure, of Soundtrack for the Blind):

And I, I've been lonely
And I, I've been blind
And I, I've learned nothing
So my hands are firmly tied
To the sinking
lead weight
of failure . . .

I think they transcend the label of Goth.

The Swans music is very powerful. It's got an overwhelming sort of "wall of sound" feel to it that washes over you. The band recently broke up, and Gira went on to a project he called The Angels of Light.

There's lots of info at their website: http://www.swans.pair.com/

New York based band with their first record release in 1982. "Broke up" in 1997. Started out as very dark and brutal, but mellowed out somewhat towards the last releases. The lineup varied over time but lead singer/guitarist/frontman Michael Gira has been in the band from start to end. Two other members Jarboe (vocals and keyboards) and Norman Westberg appear on a majority of the albums. Other notable members include Roli Mosimann (drums and percussion), Algis Kizys (bass) and Theodore Parsons (drums and percussion). Bill Laswell, Anton Fier, Bill Rieflin, Martin Atkins and Nicky Skopelitis have also played on Swans albums and that might help place Swans on the map if you haven't heard them.

The early releases (e.g. Filth, Cop, Greed), are aggressive, distorted, dissonant, and bleak to the point where it is almost a physical experience listening to them (recommended in small doses). The album Children of God (1987) marked the first step towards a slightly more accessible and melodic sound. Not that it isn't brutal and aggressive in parts (e.g. "Beautiful Child","New Mind"), but some of the tracks are outright beautiful.

The next album, The Burning World, continued on that path and the distortion was turned down another notch: some of the tracks are entirely acoustic.

The last album The Great Annihilator was in a way a step back towards the more aggressive (abrasive?) sound, but not to the point where you get exhausted just by listening to a few tracks.

The band stopped recording under the name Swans in 1997, but the members are still active. Michael Gira and Jarboe have solo careers as well as the side project Skin.

Swans have rereleased selections from their oeuvre over the past few years on Young God Records. Michael Gira has used the opportunity to put the work in what he calls "final definitive form", including edits and expunging things he doesn't like, so these discs are not for collectors. Nevertheless they should be enough Swans for the casual fan and are certainly easier to find than the original releases.

In addition to The great annihilator (1994) and their brilliant final double-album Soundtracks for the blind (1997), what's now in print includes

• Children of god/World of skin (1986-87), a double containing Children of god and selections from the two LPs released by the World of skin side project;
• Swans are dead (1995/1997), a double with live selections from the Swans' last two tours;
• Cop/Young god/Greed/Holy money (1983-85), a double containing most of these four discs (the brutal sludge-punk PikeWake mentions above);
• Various failures (1988-92), a double with songs from The burning world, White light from the mouth of infinity and Love of life. Highly recommended.

Some earlier stuff is also still available but these five cardboard-case doubles, together with The great annihilator, constitute the "essential Swans" for people like me who aren't picky about history.