Rough Edge: Swarm of the Lotus CD Reviews

SWARM OF THE LOTUS

"When White Becomes Black" (At a Loss Recordings; 2004)

Swarm Of The Lotus is a Baltimore, MD-based band that I managed to see in their infancy a few years ago. I remember little about the band's performance except that I made an immediate reference that they sounded like Today Is The Day with perhaps a bit more experimentation in the band's overall musical approach.

So it was nice to get the band's debut full-length CD "When White Becomes Black" for review. I was looking forward to seeing how the band had progressed over the years. "When White Becomes Black" is an 11-track foray into dark, brooding metallic noisecore. The band themselves have coined their music as 'A-Bomb Rock' and it is an apt description. Swarm Of The Lotus alternately pull and push the listener in different directions as cascading waves of emotional turmoil make their mark on the band's songs and cumulative punch throughout the disc's overwhelming 52 minute journey.

I don't mind the length of the album, but sometimes the length of the songs wears a bit thin. As usual, this is a minor complaint, but something that I must point out as one of my own particular pet peeves with this particular genre of music.

As I alluded to earlier in the review, fans of Today Is The Day will find something to like with Swarm Of The Lotus' "When White Becomes Black." Fans of Neurosis and Mastodon will also appreciate Swarm Of The Lotus.

"When White Becomes Black" was produced by John Smulyan and Swarm Of The Lotus. The sound of the disc is great – kudos to At A Loss Recordings to putting out a professionally looking package.

Swarm Of The Lotus: Pete on guitar and vocals, Bob on guitar, John on bass, and Jon-John on drums.

For more information visit http://www.swarmofthelotus.com.

Rating Guide:

A classic. This record will kick your ass.

Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.

So-so. You've heard better.

Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.

Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.

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