Signs of the Swarm - To Rid Myself of Truth

Signs of the Swarm is a deathcore band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who formed in 2014.  Their latest album, “To Rid Myself of Truth,” is their sixth full-length album.

I’ll be honest: Deathcore isn’t the first genre I would choose to listen to.  But it has a number of decent to great bands.  Sings of the Swarm is definitely in the great category for me and I’m excited to be reviewing this one.  

The band’s musicianship has always impressed me.  Sure, they have breakdowns like any other deathcore band, but their songs have always seemed more and focused.  “To Rid Myself of Truth,” carries that further alongside a very uncompromising sound.  Deathcore tends to be much more mainstream sounding than its more extreme cousin, death metal, but this album is pretty goddamn intense.

Michael’s bass just might be the MVP of this album.  His tone is beastly and it’s so powerful that it’s never buried by the very dense guitars or drums.  He stands out and constantly drops power rhythms in the form of small nuclear explosions. Much could be said of Bobby, who’s drums are played with energy and machine-like precision. 

Carl Schulz makes his debut on this album and, as the only guitarist, he has a massive job. He pulls it off, providing each song with the breakdowns one would expect but he also injects a lot of groove into the mix and even an industrial feel at times.

And what can be said about David that hasn’t already?  Simply put, the guy is a monster and continues to show why he is one of the best vocalists in the genre.  

The album makes a bold statement to open with the title track.  The first few seconds build up to deep bass and breakdowns as the drums ramp up the aggression.  David powers his way through with growls, snarls, and screams.  The tempo kicks up soon after, pushing the song into a new level of intensity.  I like how the vocals seem to echo through the drums in places, making the music all the more potent when the rest of the band fades back in. 

“Natural Selection,” goes all in with both industrial and djent elements.  These new dynamics mix in perfectly with the band’s brand of punishment.  Some of the moments on this song are just wild, such as the bass going to the forefront while the vocals rip through.  The final half of the song around the 2:55 mark is insanely crushing!  

“Chariot,” uses liminal spaces for the first few seconds so when the full sound comes in, I nearly fall over.  Riffs rise and fall, drums and bass hammer and hammer further, all the while David rips his vocal chords in half.  This is one of the songs that truly showcases why deathcore is so popular and why people like me, who normally don’t go for the sound, always end up giving it a listen anyway.  This is archaic violence in music form.

“Iron Sacrament,” features Whitechapel’s Phil Bozeman so I knew it was going to be a raging rager before I even pressed play.  I wasn’t disappointed, especially in the second half of the song where the guitars get more intricate before sliding into a deadly avalanche of pure groove.  

The final song, “Creator,” is probably the best deathcore song I’ve heard this year, even better than what is on the new Whitechapel album, although that one is good too.  But the vocals are really nasty here and that makes me happy.  I also like the frenzied nature of the music that only stops long enough to shove a breakdown down your throat.  Fantastic album ender.

Signs of the Swarm continue their impressive reign with “To Rid Myself of Truth,” and even extreme metal fans like me will be convinced that deathcore can bring the pain as well as anything else out there.  

Rating:  Great