Swans have announced more details of their forthcoming The Gate live album which they will release to support funding on the recording and distribution of their upcoming studio album, while also confirming that the upcoming album will be the last with the current core incarnation of the group. You can watch a trailer for the DVD that will accompany the new studio album above.

The Gate will be made available in an edition of 2500 handmade 2xCD packages and the band are now accepting orders on the album, which is currently in the process of production, here. The live album can be purchased as part of a tiered system which will allow fans to support the upcoming studio album by choosing one or more of the options presented to help in the crowdfunding effort.

Of The Gate, Michael Gira says: “I believe it captures the live SWANS experience effectively. The woodblock print is by Nicole Boitos and I draw all over each one and sign it as well. Each one is unique. They’re numbered 1-2500 and won’t be available elsewhere.

Gira has also written at length about the future of the current incarnation of Swans: “The upcoming album (as yet untitled) will be the last with this core group (comprised of my beautiful friends Norman, Christoph, Thor, Phil, Christopher and myself) and the subsequent (marathon) tour in 2016 will be our last together. As such, I am determined to make this album the most fully realised, cataclysmic, subtle and nuanced, heartfelt and inspirational, truthful and luminous recording that we have yet undertaken. As always, your valued (and quite necessary) support in this perhaps quixotic endeavour is sincerely appreciated.

“The rapport this group has developed over the last 5 plus years is a gift for which I will remain forever grateful. In live performance it has sometimes lead us to unleash a sound that is not only greater than us but seems to swallow us into its own immanent consciousness and will. It feels great! Oftentimes I’ve spoken to people in the audience after a show and they’ve expressed similar notions. My sentiment at these moments is that I’m delighted to have been of service, but can’t really take responsibility for it, since it’s beyond us too. So, following the final 2016 touring cycle with the wonderful cadre of talented individuals mentioned above, I will continue to record and perform (though perhaps less frequently) using the name Swans, on a project-by-project basis. Acutely aware that the psychic connection with which we’ve been blessed is irreplaceable, I will instead pursue the ever-elusive pathway alluded to above through other means.”