| Filth | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 27, 1983 | |||
| Recorded | April 1983 | |||
| Studio | Vanguard Studios in New York City | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 36:46 | |||
| Label | Neutral | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Swans chronology | ||||
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Filth is the debut studio album by American experimental rock band Swans. It was released in 1983 through Neutral Records, following the release of the band's self-titled debut EP in 1982. Though it did not receive much contemporary attention, Filth has since been recognized as ahead of its time and significant to heavy genres of music.
Musically, the album is bleak, grinding, and deliberately repetitive, defined by two bassists persistently doubling over the same chord. The two drummers, Jonathan Kane and Roli Mosimann, play chaotically and angularly, occasionally mixing in percussion from metal straps striking tables, and the distorted guitar of Norman Westberg plays in a grating fashion. The vocals of Swans frontman Michael Gira are scathing and direct, covering topics of social decay, corruption, rape, and abuse of power.