Saturday 26 June 2010

Swarrrm - Nise Kyûseishu Domo (2003)


Digging through the archives the other day i came across this. Having not listened to it for ages it got thrown on the stereo and once again I was immersed in the surreal and chaotic world of Japan's Swarrrm, trust the Japanese to do it.
You see, while they fall under the genre title of grind, they are really left-field within its confines. I first came across them when my old band Narcosis, did a split 7" with them.They only had 2 songs on it but there was no denying there power and scope. This was the next thing I got by them and it further widened my appreciation for these far east nutters.
What other grind band starts a album with a mandolin playing something that sounds like The Godfather theme tune? Then proceeds to use that melody in the same song? Swarrrm that's who. Coupled with some immensely crazy guitar playing and an all over the shop rhythm section you pretty much have the Swarrrm sound. But to top it all off, and this is the best thing about them, is the vocal performance.
They always changed vocalists. It seemed like it was a part of there sound. Every release up until Black Bong had a different vocalist. They had no lyrics either. You get the idea that it was a case of turning up and doing whatever came out. Thus you get insane high pitched squealing and gutteral grunts but delivered with something that could only be described as "melodramatic". It sounds pretty naff on paper but you need to hear this to fully understand the description.



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