Michael Gira says that being in Swans used to be like "trudging up a sand hill wearing a hair shirt, being sprayed with battery acid, with a midget taunting you". In which case, why has he resurrected the project, asks Frances Morgan
On their 30th anniversary - with an appearance at Oya Festival booked and a new album ready for release - John Doran looks beyond the murder, the suicide, the extremism and the immolation, and talks to Mayhem's founder Necrobutcher about their radical music and nothing else