SIGNS OF THE SWARM haven’t had it easy lately and had to cope with some line-up changes. Shortly before the release of „Absolvere“ the Americans shrank from five to three members, who now represent the solid core of the band. Thus, the fourth album should also be a kind of new beginning and could provide with its brutality and quality for powerful excitement in the deathcore scene. Drummer and songwriter Bobby Crow talks to us in the interview about the turbulent times, the importance of the album and why his girlfriend thought that someone was murdered in his home studio.
Hello Bobby, thank you for taking time to do this. How are you?
Hello, I am well! I’ve just returned home from the road and am looking forward to getting back to the grind here from our home base. Thanks for having me!
You just finished your „Absolvere“ album release tour. How was the tour and what was it like to finally be back on the road and performing?
This run was such a sigh of relief for the band. We had been working and prepping for this moment for well over a year. Finally getting to see our friends and family back out there made it well worth the wait.
What was the best moment of this tour?
I think collectively our favorite show of this run was at Come & Take It in Austin, Texas. Texas is almost second to none when it comes to hospitality and support for SIGNS OF THE SWARM. Not to mention we are always honored to play such a beautiful venue!
You will be back on the road in November with Born Of Osiris and Shadow Of Intent and in January and February 2022 with Fit For An Autopsy. That’s a tight schedule! Do you just have to catch up now that touring is finally possible again?
As a band we thrive on the road. I think for the most part, we would spend every day of the year on tour if given the opportunity! Getting to see peoples’ faces when we hit those crazy riffs or extra-heavy sections is what we live for as a metal band!
Unfortunately, you had to cancel your European tour due to the Corona restrictions. Are there already new plans to come overseas?
We have been discussing some options, although nothing is currently set in stone. But don’t worry, we will make up for the cancellations, and then some!
Here in Germany the situation is still difficult for the bands, even local bands have to cancel tours within the country because of corona regulations that can’t be fulfilled. How is the situation for you in the USA, do you have to fight with many regulations regarding concerts there as well?
The US is hit or miss at the moment. Some areas are much more strict than others. It was very easy to tell based on the turnouts and attitude of the crowds which regions were more or less comfortable with the current way of things. Overall, its dealers’ choice. Our band made the decision to get vaxed so that we can play anywhere, to anyone who is willing to have us. We also chose to maintain a mask policy at most venues.
You had to deal with a difficult personnel decision regarding Cory Smarsh shortly before release. How did you deal with that, is that still a burden for the band?
Although member changes are never ideal, we pride ourselves on being able to bounce back better and stronger than ever in these situations.
You decided to release the album and the videos as they are, even if the old members are on and in it. Were there any thoughts of re-recording album tracks or videos?
It was discussed shortly, but the truth is it was too late to make changes, even if we had decided that we wanted to. Something many people may not realize is that once we finish a product on our end and submit it for distribution, it is out of our hands. Basically, all we can do from that point is stand by our decision and hope for understanding. We are grateful that most people are respectful of this.
Do you want to continue as Bobby, David and Jeff for the meantime, or are you already thinking about adding someone new to the band?
For now, that is the current line-up. We have no intention of bringing in any new permanent members, but have enlisted the help of some friends to fill the void on stage for our upcoming tours.
Let’s finally get to „Absolvere”. I would say you have reached a new level in terms of songwriting, variety, and brutality, both for you as a band and in the field of deathcore. What do you think is better than on your previous albums, how have you evolved?
We wholeheartedly feel that “Absolvere” is by far our best album in all facets. From the musicianship, writing structure, and overall cohesiveness of the album, we are very pleased with what we were able to accomplish in the last year with this record. “Absolvere” takes everything we love about SIGNS OF THE SWARM from previous records and brings it all together into a 40 minute long, crushing-ly beautiful piece.
What does the album title “Absolvere” mean for you, what is the meaning behind the word?
We toyed with the idea of “Absolution”, “Absolute”, and “Absolve”. But after some research we just wanted to go with something a little more unique. After we settled on “Absolvere” we began to notice bits and pieces coming together like a puzzle. But I guess in short, to us the title means to start fresh, and define what SOTS is musically as well as what we stand for as artists.
I like the album cover, also because it stands out from the typical deathcore cover. But to be honest, it’s also very confusing. What do you want to say with the artwork, how does it fit to the songs and the album?
Different aspects of the artwork represent songs and lyrics from the Album. In example, the cage around the body represents “Hollow Prison”, as the book represents lyrics from our first single, “Totem”. The cover can be a bit confusing, but one thing is for sure, it grabs your attention. Especially in a sea of album art that can sometimes be easily mistaken for one-another, this cover immediately jumps out as unique in comparison.
You spread so much anger and aggression on the album. Do you draw inspiration for this from the world around you, from the weird things that keep happening?
“Absolvere” reaches deeply into David’s personal life. While I don’t want to speak for him, I will say that the album relays many strong emotions that we all carry with us day to day. We set out to make a pissed off album, and that comes through especially in the vocals.
Does the album have an overriding lyrical concept or do the songs stand more for themselves? What are the songs about, what inspires the lyrics?
The album touches on many personal experiences in David’s life: from family, death, and addiction. While these can be very easily stereotyped in a rock/metal album, I feel that Dave has done an excellent job of making these subjects as relatable to anyone who has an open mind. We still try to keep some of the influences from former SOTS releases (“The Disfigurement Of Existence”) while taking a more poetic and approachable stance.
My favorite track of the album is “Death Whistle”, it is a mighty monster of a deathcore song. I just love the fact that you used a real Aztec Death Whistle, it sounds so surreal creepy. How did you find out about this item and why did you use it?
We had all heard of the Aztec death whistles in our childhood years, but it was something we kept joking about throwing into a song until it actually happened. The first time I added the effect in and played it back in my home studio, my long-time girlfriend came running downstairs in horror as she genuinely thought someone was being murdered in our home.
This album gave me a ton of room and opportunity to experiment with sound scapes and effects to create an atmosphere that we were never able to fully achieve in the past. And I have to say that sequence in “Death Whistle” is a major album highlight for me from both a producer and listener perspective.
On „Dreaming Desecration“ and „Death Whistle“ you used clear vocals for the first time, which in my opinion gives the songs more depth and structure. Why did you decide to do that?
We never set out with the mindset of “We want to have cleans in this song”. But also, we are very open minded and we believe that the song should take whatever journey feels most appropriate and not weigh ourselves down by stereotypes. When we came to sections that felt like they needed more melody, we tried singing. And fortunately, we were blown away. Ironically some of the sections with cleans are some of the albums greatest highlights!
How did the great guest appearances of Alex Erian and Ben Duerr come about and what do the two bands mean to you? I was especially excited about Ben’s contribution, Shadow Of Intent is one of the best bands I’ve discovered in the last few years.
We have been very fortunate to call both Alex and Ben our friends in recent years. Any time we came to a part that sounded like it was a good fit for a guest spot, we reached out to our friends. We originally intended to have Alex on our previous single “The Collection”, but he was unavailable at the time. So we circled back with him for “Hollow Prison” and we were ecstatic when he agreed. As for Ben, it’s been a long time coming as he is a long time friend of the band. “Blood Seal” features a sort of “call and response” to death, following the coattails of our track “Tempting Death” from “Vital Deprivation”, and we knew exactly who we wanted to play Death from the get-go. Ben’s voice was the perfect fit for this song and he had his parts to us in just under a few days!
Since your last album, you released the singles “Pernicious” and “The Collection”, which are not on any album, why is that so? I always find it a bit sad when songs don’t have a real “home”. Is it maybe because of the streaming age not so important, because most people listen via Spotify anyway and less a whole album at a time?
Given that we have had a number of line-up changes over the years, it also heavily affects your songwriting style. Both tracks were my first experiences with producing music for SIGNS OF THE SWARM from the ground up and I had a heavy hand in writing them, which was very exciting for me at the time! We wanted to use these singles as an opportunity for a fresh start, and to prepare fans for what our next album would likely sound like. In this, I think we set ourselves up for success.
Let’s conclude with our traditional brainstorming. What comes to your mind first when you read the following words?
Current favorite album: Turnstile – “Glow On”, Rivers of Nihil – “The Work”.
Youtube-Reactions: Randyness, SeenFeen, Hardcore Keem
Nature: I was born in Appalachia, but my heart belongs in Fuji, Japan.
Video games: Gears of War, Splitgate, Zelda: Link’s Awakening Remaster.
Best thing to do on tour between concerts: Smoke a blunt and catch up with friends and family!
Something that makes every bad day better: A great meal or a nice phone call can go a long way.
SIGNS OF THE SWARM in ten years: Hopefully selling out arenas next to our favorite bands!
Thank you once again for your time! The last words are all yours. Is there anything left you want to tell our readers?
Follow us on instagram and twitter @signsoftheswarm and check out “Absolvere” today!
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18. Oktober 2021 Stefan Popp
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