It is nice to see some friends actually being productive on the pandemic age and finally come up with something new on the scene, like we all know that for some person having so much free time doesn't mean a good thing for her/his productivity. And this goes up for the boys of Swarm. Swarm is a newly formed skramz band from Bandung featuring members from known notable local acts such as Gauth, Glare, Ailis, and Grief. Those are bands, as I know, coming from different kind of music and this what makes the band itself so interesting.
It was nice to see this band live a couple months ago and from the first view I was bummed by the energy they presented to the audience during the gig. Swarm is a band that presents an intense and well driven post hardcore sound and I bet this is the band that would still sounded good though all of the song are written in Bahasa. Yes in this context, we might find that music is actually an universal language. The music is also presents its pure quality though it is covered up by so many marketing strategy. And after all, what's good on the music itself would always leave a good impression.
Swarm starts its own path by releasing their initial mini album entitled Menyerbak Asap. The album starts with its first track entitled "Tunggara" and the band takes no overrated decoration on presenting their music intensity. I love how the intro sounds on this track, it's a short part but I can feel its great intensity. And when the verse part coming in, it's where the whole energy comes out from the band. The track has a loud and great intensity but fading out its energy at the end of the song. In the other words, Swarm just started something good by putting up an epic song structure for this song.
Next track called "Menyerbak Asap" where the song starts with a post hardcore signature boisterous intro. The band seem won't chill the things out at the second track and, on the contrary, the second track is much more intense than the first one. I love how the band put up a chiller part in the middle part of the song where the song leaves the screaming vocal and guitar-bass sounds being a highlight. And this part leaves a room for everyone for singing along.
Third track called "Lembah" is a midtempo song and also the most melodious track among all the tracks on the EP. The two guitarists makes a great collaboration on this track and, as you could hear, the two harmonic guitarworks would be a highlighted aesthetic for this song.
The EP is closed by one of most lovely track entitled "Kelambu Ditapal Batas". What makes this track so special is its breakdown part where you can find it during an intense verse part. It's a track which will blast the packed up room into an emotional stagediving scenery. Also the band make a shifting turmoil composition on the mid part of the song which this brings up to the intensity of the band created since the beginning part of the EP.
Overall, I would recommend this mini album to everyone who's into 3rd wave post hardcore stuffs and I love about how the band presents their intense energy on this EP. It's full of love and passion. I would be more than please to see more stuffs coming out from this new favorite band.
