Swarms
Old Raves End

I think many of you have tried to expand your knowledge regarding the world of the so-called future garage. Yes, because after that now-distant 2006, the year in which the asocial and mysterious William Bevan (aka Burial) released his self-titled album, something in the electronic music world changed significantly. That particular and unique sound paved the way for a new way of conceiving what we commonly call dubstep.

From that moment on, several artists began to draw inspiration from it: some turned out to be nothing more than poor imitations of the original. Others, however, while practically maintaining the same stylistic cues, managed to give an original and personal touch to their works.

Among the latter are Swarms, a trio of young guys from Bristol (certainly not a new name), who with their album "Old Raves End" (released in 2011) offer a particularly atmospheric, ethereal, and exciting future garage/dubstep.

Nothing extraordinarily new, it's true. The classic elements of the genre are all there: ambient backgrounds, pitch-shifted soul voices, 2-step rhythms, dub reverbs. Despite this, the guys from Bristol don't fall into mannerism and still manage to make their sound personal and interesting. How? With particularly rarefied and well-crafted arrangements, which, among minimalist echoes of guitars, synth, piano, and strings would certainly not be out of place on any post-rock album by the likes of Mogwai or port-royal. In other works by other artists in the same genre, I've never been able to find atmospheres with such intense and deep emotional impact.

With this, I conclude by saying that any other comment or description to understand their "originality" more deeply would be superfluous, lengthy, and useless. More than a real review, it's a recommendation. In summary, if you love more modern dubstep or future garage and if you want to hear something a bit different from the usual clone projects, it's an album you must try. I think it's worth it.

(album rating: 3.5/5)