Editing Swans (band) (section)

==== Early style ====
Kane compares Swans to blues icon Chester Burnett, a.k.a. [[Chester Burnett|Howlin' Wolf]].<ref name="Greed review">{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|album|greed-mw0001883300#review|pure_url=yes}} |title=''Greed''&nbsp;– Swans |last=Raggett |first=Ned |work=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=September 21, 2024}}</ref> Some similarities worth noting—the music of early Swans was often based on a single [[riff]], played repeatedly to hypnotic effect.<ref name="Greed review"/> Some of Burnett's songs—especially the songs penned by Burnett himself—have a similar structure and quality. Their early music was typified by slow and grinding [[guitar]] noise, and pounding drums, punctuated by Gira's morbid and violent lyrics (inspired by [[Jean Genet]] and [[Marquis de Sade]]), usually barked or shouted. Critics have described Swans' early recordings as "aggressive beyond words".<ref name="Greed review"/>

Their first full-length release, ''[[Filth (Swans album)|Filth]]'' (1983), featured driving, choppy rhythms and abrasive drums.<ref name="Filth review">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/filth-mw0000691039#review |title=''Filth''&nbsp;– Swans |last=Raggett |first=Ned |work=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=September 21, 2024 |archive-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811200847/https://www.allmusic.com/album/filth-mw0000691039#review |url-status=live }}</ref> The whole is reminiscent of earlier [[no wave]] bands, such as [[Mars (band)|Mars]], and the work of Swans' contemporaries, like [[Sonic Youth]]'s ''[[Confusion Is Sex]]'' and ''[[Kill Yr Idols]]''; but critic Ned Raggett contends that "early Swans really is like little else on the planet before or since".<ref name="Filth review"/> ''Filth'' was the first album to feature guitarist [[Norman Westberg]], who would play a vital role in much of Swans' music and would feature on every subsequent studio album apart from ''[[Love of Life (album)|Love of Life]]''.<ref name="Filth review"/>

''[[Cop (album)|Cop]]'' (1984) and the originally untitled ''[[Young God (EP)|Young God]]'' EP were both released in 1984 and re-released together on CD in 1992.<ref name="Swans allmusic"/><ref name="Young God">{{cite web |url=http://www.swans.pair.com/DISCOGRAPHY/young.html |title=Swans <nowiki>| Discography |</nowiki> ''Young God'' EP |work=swans.pair.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204170843/http://www.swans.pair.com/DISCOGRAPHY/young.html |access-date=February 21, 2013|archive-date=February 4, 2012 }}</ref> ''Young God'' has been known by several names, usually by one of its two A-sides, such as "I Crawled" or, notoriously, as "Raping a Slave".<ref name="Young God"/> This release is often confused with their self-titled debut.<ref name="Swans allmusic"/> The music continues in the same vein as ''Filth'', and is again vaguely reminiscent of [[heavy metal music]] played in extreme slow motion.<ref>{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|album|cop-mw0000954565#review|pure_url=yes}} |title=''Cop'' – Swans |last=Raggett |first=Ned |work=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=September 21, 2024}}</ref> Swans were, in this era, Gira on vocals, [[Norman Westberg|Westberg]] on guitar, Harry Crosby on bass guitar and [[Roli Mosimann]] on drums.<ref name="Swans allmusic"/> Gira's vocals had changed slightly, becoming slowly more melodic, although the snarl still remained.<ref name="Swans allmusic"/> Some of the songs on the EP, particularly "Young God" and "I Crawled", have an actual vocal melody, if rudimentary, hinting at the sounds of future releases.<ref name="Swans allmusic"/>

[[Godflesh]] frontman [[Justin Broadrick]] shared this impression of the group:

{{cquote|The ''Slave EP'' was a sound that I always wanted to hear, just the bleakest and blackest. The minimalist approach of the music, that was what really influenced me. It was non-genre-specific, with a total lack of baggage... purely abstract, surreal, and violent. It communicated to me in a very special way, and taught me that heavy metal could be stripped of everything and reduced to its most primal form. ... Swans ... paved the way for me.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metrospirit.com/index.php?ShowArticle_ID=11012410074046204&cat=1993101070588705 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210144406/http://www.metrospirit.com/index.php?ShowArticle_ID=11012410074046204&cat=1993101070588705 |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 February 2009 |title=Justin Broadrick: Existing through risk |author=Ruffin, Josh |date=2007-10-23 |website=Metrospirit.com |access-date=2008-09-19 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>}}