The Black Swamp - I Am (blown away)

It's been two years since Sludge metal outfit The Black Swamp released Foulness, an absolute belter of an Ep, and shortly after the sonic assault of single Cold Dead Hands. In my previous article about these guys, I was purring over what developments might be on the next release and I finally get to find out. 

Founded in 2012, this band are all about playing live and the recorded work up 'til now has been making me want to sell my home to pay for flights to witness it! These guys present such a party vibe, they've even had a beer named after them!

They will be unleashing the album I Am into your aural galaxy on 29 September. It can be pre ordered on bandcamp and will be available on all your normal download and streaming services.

I AM

Opening with the acoustically led Kin,  a moody track with a spoken peice that reminded me of Weedeater's Dave Collins, is not what I expected, but I liked it, I also knew it i was about to get smacked in the ears. 

And the aural smacks come in the form of Exhale and the first track to be released, Purge. Exhale is A heavy, no nonsense groove ridden track. Purge is an immensely heavy sludge stomper. Early signs show, as I'd hoped, that the vocal performance still has the range and nuances in delivery that make vocalist Stewart Wren a frontman with few peers.

Common Crows, with it's sublime southern sludge, touched by the hand of Skynyrd style is a triumph and an ode to the song writing capabilities of The Black Swamp as a group. 

Crawl opens with a dark lo-fi opening offset by Wren's growl. Musically, it soon catches up with the vocal. It is an interesting, mood driven track, and is probably the hardest track to access for the listener. It is a grower though and it's impossible not to be drawn in by the guitar work. 

Barricade and Ours are are short bursts of energy. Barricade stepped in hardcore delivery is high on impact, whereas Ours is a stomping sludgefest. Two hard hitting, to the point tracks.

It's then that The Black Swamp take us to epicville with Mountain (I Am). And it's a track that has everything. Again Wren shows his vocal range with switching from scream to clean. Musically is heavy and melodic with a great solo and there's even a lovely warm backing vocal display from Caity Solca and a flute section by Melanie Woodley. It is not hard to see why their upcoming tour was named after this rangy, stylish, masterful track. 

Hollowed returns us to firm heavy sludge territory. With riffs it's impossible not to move too it's a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

The album ends with the journey that is Bleed Mother. A performance full of emotion vocally and musically, it is 9 and a half minutes of imagination capturing brilliance and a simply stunning way to close an album.

You sometimes hear albums where the first 4 tracks are amazing and the rest are good but not great, and you call it a good album. This is NOT that album. It ends on higher note than it left with and is overflowing with great tracks. 

I said in my first review that they display a variance of styles and perform them all well. They still have this element, however the delivery is more focused and it is a clear step up for the band from the already excellent Foulness EP. Musically, it is incredibly well performed and written throughout and has one of the best heavy vocal performances I've heard in some time. 

Conclusion

If you're already a fan of The Black Swamp, they're about to become your favourite band. If you haven't really heard them yet there's no better introduction than I Am.  

Even havin heard it, it is impossible not to get excited about the release of I Am. 

Score 5 out of 5

Stand Out Tracks: Common Crows, Mountain (I Am), Mother Bleed

Follow Them: Facebook/Twitter/Instagram

Preorder here

The Black Swamp are:
Stewart Wren - Vocals
Jesse Kenny -Guitar
Grant Scott - Guitar
Rohan Downs - Bass 
Brendan Woodley - Drums. 

Article by Jonathan Radley

Photo Credits: K.C Ward

Tour: Australia Only (wipe those tears from the floor bitch)

The Black Swamp - Foulness/Faultless

The Black Swamp

With them entering the studio this month to record their début LP it seems like a good time to do a little article about a band that is new to me, but one of my favourite finds in years, The Black Swamp.

If their EP "Foulness" and subsequent track (and video) "Cold Dead Hands" is anything to go by, then I am anticipating something pretty special, and I hope after reading this and hearing some music, you will be too.

The Black Swamp are already well in the process of making a name for themselves and have supported the likes of Hell Yeah and the almighty Black Label Society. Some readers may already be well versed in their sound. If you're not read on, if you are read on anyway, I'd be interested to get your opinions of this article......

The Black Swamp are a band who, for me, capture a bit of the spirit of Pantera, and take me back to the happiness I felt and the "how the fuck am I only just hearing this" feeling I had when I first discovered what came to be my benchmark band for all Metal. And from me, there may be no bigger compliment.

Now, I'm not saying this band are an imitation, because they are most certainly NOT. They do however on a couple of occasions appreciatively nod their head in that direction, namely in vocal delivery and some of the riffs.

In terms of musical style you can't really pidgeon hole them into a specific metal genre, something they seem to be deliberately trying to achieve, but they have elements of sludge, groove, stoner, doom and on occasions hard rock to their sound.

What they do posess is excellent musicality throughout, an ability to write catchy head infecting riffs and incredible vocal delivery.

Who Are They? 

The Black Swamp are currently made up of vocalist Stewart Wren, Jesse Kenny and Grant Scott on guitars, Rohan Downs on Bass and Brendan Woodley on drums. They are from South East Queensland, Australia. The material discussed and featured in this article was recorded with Ricky Collier on Bass duties. They started performing as a live act in 2012

Foulness EP

Foulness is excellent from start to finish, and this is the only way to describe it.

"Medal of Horror" contains great drum work which really drives the track in a similar way Adler's style does often for L.O.G. It's a high impact head banger from the start and throughout.

The title track, "Foulness" (obviously) is groove at its best, with a nice melodic lead in the chorus and a breakdown that'll have you slam dancing so hard you'll head butt the floor.

In the song "Legion" the vocalist, Wren, shows a talent of providing impact with his vocal delivery. There are well timed but random growls and then screaming "You will remember my... name" with "name" being after the beat where you'd expect to hear it. It may seem like minor things but these subtle nuances add so much to this track. Many bands don't seem to think about how much this can add to the groove or enjoyment of a song.

"The Fight Inside" starts with a great, southern influenced lead guitar line and riff. This then grows into a sludgy, chugging beauty of a track, one of those the more you hear it the better it gets songs.

The EP closes out with "Bastards of the Universe". This is a track that is worth the cost of the EP alone. Stewart Wren takes the opportunity to show off his impressive vocal abilities, incorporating a cleaner style whilst maintaining his usual style in places, The riffs would leave any fan of bands like Down, Crowbar or Orange Goblin purring with satisfaction.

Cold Dead Hands 

I'm not going to say anything about the track, Cold Dead Hands, apart from in a fan boy way, as I said to my mate Jim when I first saw it; "YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS NOW"!

Their releases so far have a variance of styles that are all performed to a high standard. When I think about what we will hear on the L.P then I hope they keep this eclectic mix going. But then I also think that if they concentrated on performing straight up groove (or sludge or anything else) it wouldn't be an issue as they are more than proficient all the areas they cover.

You can buy the EP here for a pittance, so its really worth the investment to discover a brilliant metal band, and start getting pumped for their LP release later in the year.

Ultimately this is the type of band that I want to go and see whilst getting hammered with my mates, rocking out at the gig then leaving ready to party more! And that's probably why they give me the "Pantera effect", because when I hear them, I want to drink and party and when music makes you immediately want to do these things, you know it's quality.

Follow

Follow them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and check out their Youtube channel for some interesting videos. (see the end of the article for a video about the writing process for the new album).

Band photos are by K.C Ward

Follow me on Facebook or Twitter for more articles.

You will remember my ...... NAAAAAAME!

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