Swarm Of The Lotus
The Sirens Of Silence

I am monotonous. Monotonous enough to offer you another CD, from another American band, always playing this damn sludge (metal[?]).
And what can I say? I never get enough. Even though some might say that Panopticon marked the beginning of the end of a rather repetitious genre focused on the same things (among which experimentation :P), I always manage to be moved by every new band as if I had never heard anything like it before. And, on the other hand, the style, the ideas, the emotions, they are not all the same. Quite often, there is very little similarity.

For instance, this Swarm of the Lotus (nice name) is rotten. Rotten, like the disgusting things that trap the agonizing woman on the cover (which is also nice) and nest and take root amidst urban decay. Hints of melody hidden amidst moments of silence/minimalism à la post and insubstantial, hoarse screams on carpets made of distortions blasted beyond all decency and of granite rhythmic structures. Anguishly angry, the vocals are reminiscent of the Kelly/Von Till duo (the Neurosis, just to be clear). But they scream much more. If Neurosis were the bards of the apocalypse, Swarm of the Lotus are the heralds of the four horsemen. Fully (or almost) aware of their own devastating potential.

I realize I’ve been a bit epigrammatic. But really, there's not much else to say, except: give it a listen. If you loved the dark sonic apocalypse that was ‘Through Silver in Blood’, now it's time to dive into the Sirens of Silence. The CD is quite complex, yet despite this, relatively digestible (51 minutes), even if a bit too firmly linked back to the aforementioned Neurosis. But still. A silence marked by horror, anguish, and primal, primordial rage, but also (AhAHA! Thought I could miss it?) by beauty.