Swans are an American experimental rock band formed in 1982 by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. One of few acts to emerge from the New York City-based no wave scene and stay intact into the next decade, Swans have become recognized for an ever-changing sound, exploring genres such as noise rock, post-punk, industrial and post-rock. Initially, their music was known for its sonic brutality and misanthropic lyrics. Following the addition of singer, songwriter and keyboardist Jarboe in 1986, Swans began to incorporate melody and intricacy into their music. Jarboe remained the band's only constant member except Gira and semi-constant guitarist Norman Westberg until their dissolution in 1997.
Vidna Obmana is a pseudonym used by Belgian composer and ambient musician Dirk Serries. The name Vidna Obmana, a phrase in Serbian, literally translates to "optical illusion" and was chosen by Serries because he felt it accurately described the music. Serries created music under the Vidna Obmana pseudonym from 1984 until 2007, when he officially retired the name. Most of his current work is released under the Fear Falls Burning pseudonym.
Final is a project of English musician Justin Broadrick, creator of the band Godflesh, which he started when he was just 13 years old. Unlike Godflesh, Final is primarily electronic in nature, taking on a space-like, dark ambient sound.
Bass Communion is a solo project of English musician Steven Wilson, best known for his lead role in the rock band Porcupine Tree. Records released under the name "Bass Communion" are in an ambient or electronic vein - lengthy drone-heavy compositions. They come about as experiments in texture made from processing the sound of real instruments and field recordings.
Zero 7 are an English musical duo consisting of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker. They began as studio engineers and in 1997 formed the group Zero 7. Their debut album, Simple Things, was released in 2001. Subsequent albums include When It Falls, The Garden, and Yeah Ghost.
The World of Skin was a project springing out of the American group Swans, which was a collaboration between the core Swans members Michael Gira and Jarboe. The project was initially called Skin, with the first two albums being released under that name, the last one being released under the name the World of Skin. In the UK, the first two albums were released by Product Inc., an imprint of Mute Records, while the last was released on Gira's own Young God label.
Dysrhythmia is an American instrumental progressive metal band formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, in 1998. The band's music combines avant-garde elements of progressive rock and jazz with heavy metal. They are currently located in Brooklyn, New York.
Viscera are an organism's internal organs.
Colin Marston is an American multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer residing in New York City. He graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music technology in 2004, and runs Menegroth The Thousand Caves Recording Studios in Woodhaven, Queens while not on tour with one of a number of bands. He also known for his performances in acts such as Behold... The Arctopus, Dysrhythmia, Krallice, and the reunion lineup of Gorguts. Marston has produced, mastered, and mixed music for artists such as Imperial Triumphant, Genghis Tron, Kayo Dot, Jarboe, Capillary Action, Origin, Panopticon, Altar of Plagues, Liturgy, Pyrrhon, and Orthrelm, as well as for his own bands.
Neurosis & Jarboe is a collaboration between Californian band Neurosis and singer-songwriter Jarboe formerly of Swans. It was released on October 21, 2003 by Neurot Recordings. On August 2, 2019, the album was re-released on Neurot Recordings. The 2019 version was remastered by Bob Weston with new artwork by Aaron Turner.
Blue Sky Black Death is a production duo based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It consists of Ryan Maguire, better known by his stage name Kingston, and Ian Taggart, better known by his stage name Young God, or, later, Televangel. They are known principally for their hip hop and instrumental music, made with a mixture of live instrumentation and sampling. Their name is "a skydiving phrase alluding to beauty and death."
Nadja is a Canadian duo of Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff. Nadja began in 2003 as a solo project for Baker to explore the heavier and noisier side of his experimental ambient music performed mainly on the electric guitar. In 2005 Buckareff joined in order to make the project more than just a studio endeavour and to allow Nadja to perform live.
Continuum is a collaborative ambient and drone music project between Bass Communion and Dirk Serries. The project looks to expand on the artists' "collective ambition and vision, motivated by their immense passion for a wide-range of musical styles, ranging from spacious ambience to pounding doom metal."
The Burning World is the sixth studio album by American experimental rock band Swans. It was released in 1989, through record label Uni Records; the band's only major label release. Co-produced by Bill Laswell and band leader Michael Gira, the album features a major stylistic shift from their past releases, being very tuneful and accessible compared to the bleak, industrialized sound from their past records. It received a mixed reception and was a commercial disappointment; the band was dropped off the record label following its poor performance.
Various Failures is the eighth compilation album by American experimental rock band Swans. It was released on March 22, 1999 and contains tracks from White Light from the Mouth of Infinity, Love of Life, The Burning World, and The World of Skin's Ten Songs for Another World. In addition, it contains B-sides, rarities, and previously unreleased tracks.
Jarboe La Salle Devereaux, known mononymously as Jarboe, is an American singer, songwriter and keyboardist who came to prominence as a member of the New York City-based band Swans in 1985. Jarboe and Michael Gira, the founder of Swans, were the two constant members of the group until it broke up in 1997.
Peter Chilvers is a Cambridgeshire-based British musician and software designer.
Kevin Hufnagel is an American musician, based in NYC. He is known for his solo guitar works, for fronting the progressive instrumental rock/metal band Dysrhythmia, and for being a member of Gorguts, Vaura, Sabbath Assembly, and Byla.
Year of No Light is a French post-metal band formed in Bordeaux in 2001. On their 2006 debut album Nord, the band combined a dark and aggressive sludge metal sound with psychedelic atmospheres inspired by post-rock and shoegazing. In 2008, they underwent a significant line-up change, replacing their vocalist by a third guitarist and a second drummer to become an instrumental sextet. Thereafter, Year of No Light integrated black metal, doom metal, drone and dark ambient influences on the albums Ausserwelt (2010) and Tocsin (2013).
Viscera is a collaborative album by Byla and Jarboe, released on October 16, 2007 by Translation Loss Records.
