Effective period / Period of releases: 1999 - 2007

Members: Michael Gira, William Rieflin, Devendra Banhart, Eszter Balint, Birgit Staudt, Phil Puleo, Stephen Moses, Larry Mullins, Daria Klotz, Bill Bronson, Thor Harris, Siobhan Duffy, Jerome O'Brien, Kristof Hahn, Dana Schechter, Paul Cantelon, David Garland, Larkin Grimm, Ryan Vanderhoof, Seth Olinsky, Miles Seaton, Dana Janssen, Patrick Fondiller, Brian Tristan

The Angels of Light was formed in 1997 by singer / guitarist Michael Gira after he disbanded Swans, the group he'd founded in 1982. The band plays in a distinctly different style for Gira since he left Swans, being mostly acoustic, folkier, musically more melodic and less brutal than his previous efforts, though no less emotionally draining. The Angels of Light include many New York City collaborators, including Dana Schechter of Bee and Flower, Kid Congo Powers of The Cramps, Larry Mullins aka Toby Dammit, Bliss Blood of The Moonlighters, Thor Harris of Shearwater (band), and most recently the Brooklyn band Akron/Family.