The Seer - Swans
Metascore
87 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 32 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
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  1. The A.V. Club
    Oct 11, 2012
    100
    Swans has never traveled a straightforward, clean, or uninterrupted path. But with The Seer, one thing is certain: Even during its quietest lulls, Gira has never sounded louder.
  2. No Ripcord
    Sep 5, 2012
    100
    The Seer is 30 years' worth of effort, a unique and exciting height earned after decades of creation, experimentation and unconventional musical disassembly.
  3. Fact Magazine (UK)
    Aug 31, 2012
    100
    The Seer is clearly brilliant, and may even be Swans' finest album yet, three decades in.
  4. Tiny Mix Tapes
    Aug 29, 2012
    100
    The Seer delivers on its promise. It's an exhausting and maddening document, but one can't help but emerge from it filled with a renewed radiance.
  5. Drowned In Sound
    Aug 28, 2012
    100
    The Seer is the culmination of Gira's 30-year-journey; his finest two hours, if you will.
  6. Sputnikmusic
    Aug 28, 2012
    100
    The Seer is everything we could have hoped for--it is Swans, standing proudly and unabashedly at the top of their game after nearly thirty years.
  7. BBC Music
    Nov 28, 2012
    90
    The Seer might not be the album you spend most time with this year--it's too emotionally demanding for heavy rotation – but it's one you'll be listening to for years to come.
  8. cokemachineglow
    Sep 7, 2012
    90
    This is a majestic, ambitious record, and the best thing an already incredible band has ever released. The rest is noise.
  9. Consequence of Sound
    Aug 30, 2012
    90
    This album redefines Swans by gathering the best of its past and re-centering the music on impulse and interplay, built with a preternatural sense of how long to let a section develop before moving on to the next idea
  10. Beats Per Minute (formerly One Thirty BPM)
    Aug 29, 2012
    90
    Just be thankful that the new Swans are as clever, as terrifying, and as proficient in their craft as presented on The Seer.
  11. Dusted Magazine
    Aug 28, 2012
    90
    If he's not making his most important works of his career, it may well be his best.
  12. Pitchfork
    Aug 28, 2012
    90
    For 30 years Swans have challenged the boundaries between beauty and ugliness, music and noise, catharsis and abuse.... The Seer is the album that transcends them.
  13. Prefix Magazine
    Aug 28, 2012
    90
    One of the most satisfying, a nearly unclassifiable mammoth of sound that manages to weave brutality, atmosphere, and aching melody into a body-enveloping cocoon that sticks around longer than the average Hollywood movie.
  14. All Music Guide
    Aug 28, 2012
    90
    The Seer is unquestionably a work of ecstatic beauty; it encompasses everything because it is everything.
  15. Austin Chronicle
    Sep 13, 2012
    89
    Anchored by three tracks stretching past 19 minutes with only momentary lapses of Western conventionality, The Seer stands as an immense and jarring homage to unpredictability.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.6 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 58 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 15
  3. Negative: 3 out of 15
  1. Rockman1976
    3
    If albums were supposed to be rated by originality this is a "10". It's like anything I ever heard before. However, I picked this albums strictly for the music and this album blows. It tested my limits of patience when I was listening to it in a car - stuck in traffic. There are noises, people screaming, playing flute, harmonica, violin, whistles, bells, and all types of weird instruments. And there is no order in this madness. Just listen to the title track that goes for 32 minutes. From minute 10 to 32 Gira is basically pounding the same chord on his guitar for 22 minutes to get to the violent drum and guitars climax. And after I survived this track and though "it can't get any worse" next track features 2 minutes of rain falling and some people just yelling for 5 minutes. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but music supposed to be fun to listen to. This album is depressing and whatever you do don't play it with your date around, or it's going to be a short date.… Full Review »
  2. Lodz
    10
    As young Swans they used to be regarded as provocative, multitalented and special in a way that made them a choice for minority. Although critics seemed to always acclaim their work, people not really and one of the most important bands of the late 80-ties and 90-ties disbanded. Now they are back. They strike with such power, strength and reflection that it is hard to pass by. Once You start You may easily lost 2 hours digging in dark meditations and strong, "wall of noise" music. Yummy. Probably the best album this year. Probably their best work to date. Highly recommended. An instant classic.… Full Review »
  3. dolanclass
    7
    A 7/10, and this is me being generous. To sit through the full two hours felt like a chore more than an enjoyable music-listening experience. Still, 'Avatar' is a fantastic song, and I'm bound to rate anything with Karen O's vocals highly, so 'Song for a Warrior' earns high marks as well. Overall though, needs more killer, less filler.… Full Review »
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