Micheal Gira ranks high on my list of all time greats, gaining a great deal of stature through The Swans while refusing to budge on artistic stances. He is no stranger to experimentation and forward thinking. With Angels of Light, Gira moves into melodic territory, soft croonings, lazy days on the beach, spaghetti westerns, and maybe even church, while remaining firmly grounded in dark post rock and noise origins. Droning and pounding as if in a slow motion heat with a low only slightly toned voice broken and swelling, spilling out dark text like a twisted lover. Each song carries a sense of growth and forward motion as acoustic instruments combine with electric guitars and the occasional percussive elements, pianos and organs and strange electric textures weave their way around each other. There is a definite place for lyrics and the voice as the chords slowly strum along yet the music insists on reaching higher as if searching for heaven and always expanding. It's a serpent in the sky that lifts you up and leaves teeth marks on your skin, but left to one word Angels of Light is... lingering.
