Pittsburgh deathcore unit Signs Of The Swarm will unleash their fifth full-length, Amongst the Low & Empty, via Century Media Records. For a preview of the album, the new single – “Malady” – can be streamed here
Vocalist David Simonich comments: “This song reflects previous battles I’ve faced with my depression. A moment in my life reminded me of what I’d been through, and it became the fuel for ‘Malady.’ The song pushed me to be vulnerable in the studio, expressing my thoughts and emotions to my producer to paint the picture I was going for.”
Drummer Bobby Crow adds: “I wanted to craft a dark and primal song to match Dave’s subject matter, so the music and lyrics elevate one another. Seeing as ‘Malady’ is another word for disease, I wanted the song to be catchy enough to infect yet deteriorates as sickness does to your body over time. The song builds to a painful climax, growing in intensity as it devolves into a noisy cacophony. You can’t even wrap your head around it, then it’s over.”
Pre-order Amongst the Low & Empty now here: https://signsoftheswarm.lnk.
–Jewelcase CD
–Gatefold black LP
–Gatefold aqua colored LP – USA retail exclusive
–Gatefold transp. light blue-black marbled LP – EU retail exclusive
–Gatefold white-dark blue marbled LP – Signs Of The Swarm exclusive
–Digital album
Produced by Josh Schroeder (Lorna Shore, King 810, Tallah, Varials), Amongst the Low & Empty is the first Signs Of The Swarm album to feature an outside producer. Massive, unapologetic and unrelenting in its assault, this fifth full-length keeps listeners on the edge of their seat. Songs like the title track, “Pray For Death” and “Malady” put to shame the slamming “br00tality” of sophomore LP The Disfigurement of Existence, with vocalist David Simonich’s animalistic growls and screeches outdoing any swarm, pack, or otherwise, found in the wild. Despite the savage brutality, the leader of this herd IS the structure that is simultaneously more rigid yet more explorative, complete with a catchy groove underneath – the likes of which hasn’t been heard from Signs Of The Swarm. It’s the bedrock that allows “Tower of Torsos,” “DREAMKILLER” and “Pray For Death” to be as catchy as they are. Songs like “Shackles Like Talons” and “Fire and Stone” split the difference incisively. On the more cacophonous side, industrial flirtations were added both in-studio by band and producer, and beyond, with Joshua Travis (Emmure, Glass Cloud, The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza) and Cameron Losch (Born of Osiris) throwing riffs and ruckus into the mix (“At one point, Joshua Travis was recording a chainsaw in his backyard,” the band reveals). Trivium mastermind Matthew K. Heafy even sent over a guest shout for “The Witch Beckons”.
The resulting 11 tracks are so destructively deafening, it blew out Josh Schroeder’s subwoofer! “We’ve always been a deathcore band,” states Bobby Crow, the quartet’s longest-standing member, who serves as drummer and main songwriter. “But this record is a lot MORE – it’s got death metal, metalcore, djent, some industrial stuff…We wanted to make something that was just heavy.”
