SWARTH

Swarth is somewhat of an endurance test, not exactly in the "how long can I listen to this before I have to shut it off" sense, but more in the "how long can I listen to this before my bowels erupt and my stomach starts devouring itself" vein. It's actually kind of a fun game for those with strong stomachs. I mention the stomach and lower intestinal regions because the guitars here are tuned ridiculously low to the point where the guitar strings just dangle like spagetti strands and some of these plucked "notes" are too low to register as much more than a low buzz that hurts the gut. The vocals are death growls belching forth esoteric and quite odd lyrics:

"Venous Stasis Fey Terminus Lugubrious EverPuce Perforate/Disseminate Polymouth Clotting Foul Exsanguinate Psyphonetaneous Secrete!"

Lyrics like Jon Anderson's evil and completely demented twin would conjure.

The overall sound is what counts here, which is an atmosphere of absolute chaos and terror, in which this album succeeds in its aims. There is technicality in the musicianship, but that's not really the focal point to this endeavor, thus a lot of these weird riffs are blurred into this noisy maelstrom with psycho drum bashing and a cavernous production. It doesn't need to be said that this album isn't for everyone. Even many fans of extreme metal (let alone prog) have found this "too out there" or just plain bonkers. I actually don't kick back in my favorite chair and swirl a glass of brandy while listening to the soundscapes of Swarth very often (well...hardly ever, actually), but once in a rare while I can enjoy this sort of monstrous material as that rather fun endurance test I mentioned earlier, and that's probably what the band was going for when they created this thing.