Introducing Dead Swans
Introducing Dead Swans
Words by Ian Dickinson
It is hard enough for a young band such as the Dead Swans to stand out from the masses and make an impact in the healthy, but crowded UK hardcore scene. It is even more difficult to get noticed in the USA. Well, the Dead Swans have miraculously achieved these goals and for a good reason to!
The 5 piece from Brighton formed in 2006 and in January of 2009 were signed to legendary American hardcore label Bridge Nine. The label is currently home to H20, Paint It Black and Agnostic Front to name but a few. The bands first full length; Sleepwalkers came out in August and is preceded by the now infamous mini-album Southern Blue which was released in the UK on Thirty Days Of Night Records.
Bleak, troubling, passionate, worrying, aggressive, heartbreaking, all these words go only a small way to describe the intense sound of Dead Swans. This is a hardcore band with heart, a black and broken heart, but a heart non the less. As the rapid pace of the guitars and drums violently crash down on you like a knuckle duster to the face, Nicholas Worthington screams with the passion of a man tormented and possessed, creating a savage, hopeless and claustrophobic atmosphere. This is brutal hardcore. It is unrelenting, fast paced and perfect for an evening of thrashing out in a blood and sweat drenched pit! Their first release in the USA was the 7” Its Starting which includes two exclusive covers. One by Black Flag and the second by My Bloody Valentine. In many ways the music of Dead Swans is the ideal combination of their predecessors styles. It is the combination of raw aggression and melancholy that makes the Dead Swans totally intoxicating.
Vocalist Nicholas Worthington relentlessly screams his way through the dark ambience which is created by fellow band members Robert Taylor (guitar) Ben McManus (Bass) Ben Mead (Drums) and Pid (Guitar). Everything that makes the Dead Swans so vital and appealing can be heard in the track 20.07.07. “It doesn’t matter how hard I scream these songs wont bring you back” spits Worthington repeatedly at the conclusion to the blistering 1min 27 of sheer heart wrenching hardcore. I can highly recommend listening to the original version, which can be found on Southern Blue. This version features the full intensity and depressive beauty of the Dead Swans, as the track fades out to the musings of the young girl in the cult gothic movie The Crow; “Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever.” Another bonus to be found on Southern Blue is the track Swallow, also on Sleepwalkers, featuring vocal heavy weight Sam Carter from the Architects who joins the band to further the ferocity!
Don’t let my talk of heart break and angst fool you into thinking that this is some winey trendy bitch of a band. The passion seems real, its not aggression for aggressions sake, it is sincere. This is the edge that separates them from the rest, as well as blistering tracks to smash you skull to! If you want to go checkout one of the UK’s finest exports in the flesh.
