Comprised of “three Northern idiots who make horrible, loud as fuck sludge metal” – according to frontman Jon Rhodes – the Rotherham band aren’t one to hide behind flowery proses, delicate metaphors or anything of the kind. A three-headed swamp monster of an utter unit, one that belches NOLA-focused riffs marred with a grim doom aftertaste, Swamp Coffin was birthed as a two piece in the sewers of the North in 2016 as nothing more than a fun, if not vile hobby. It wasn’t until 2019 that the band climbed out of the septic tanks of the city with their debut EP Flatcap Bastard Features. A few years and one lineup shift later, the band are set to lurch menacingly further into the light with their upcoming debut Noose Almighty, a positively putrid offering that drips with menace, purpose and a buckets of filth.
Releasing November 26th, Noose Almighty see’s the band – now composed of Rhodes, drummer David Wistow and bassist Martyn White – further refining their sound without comprising their organic and raw take on doom tainted sludge. A record of pure unfiltered bile that sounds somewhat akin to someone submerging Eyehategod, Mastiff, Crowbar and Calligram in a vat of toxic waste, across the six tracks that construct the record Swamp Coffin spew a home-brewed concoction of musical waste that’s rich, dextrous and wholly unrelenting in it’s savagery. Yet, despite this all, emotion is the key element within Noose Almighty. It’s an album documenting times of heartbreak, remorse, pain and general disenchantment with our cold way of living, a record anchored in very real, painstakingly detailed trauma. Throughout all of this though, the crux of Swamp Coffin still remains steadfast; it’s a record created by three musicians who started a band for a shared love of the craft and a shared desire to have fun doing it.
With the record releasing November 26th via APF, we got in touch with Rhodes to discuss the album and Swamp Coffin as a whole.
“When we made the band, we had to come up with a name and… we were 20 years old, seen A Clockwork Orange a bunch of times and just thought that it would be cool to have like, a sort of reference from the movie,” they explain. It being a favourite movie of at least two members though, doesn’t actually mean any of their music is themed around the movie; “a lot of the songs are about mental illnesses, the environment… whatever. And… our single Supremacy is about black inequality in the world, but mostly in the United States,” is the forthright answer. But, they wouldn’t call themselves necessarily a political band outright, wary of the trap it often lands you in. They separate themselves from bands like Rage Against The Machine or Rise Against who embrace the political, instead preferring to let their music do the talking, while being unafraid to tackle the same subjects without labelling themselves. “We don’t do right wing stuff! We have our values straight, and we are good guys,” is their remarkably straightforward answer. “A guy [wrote to us on] Instagram asking, are you guys racists? Because I just don’t want to get involved in your music, if you’re racists,” they begin and it’s clear that they’re unwavering in their convictions despite rejecting the label of ‘political’; “If someone is… [a] neo-nazi, I don’t want him to listen to my music!”
Be it guitar, synth or a haunting vocal line, the post-rock sextet have gone above and beyond in every sense of the phrase. If you’re an old fan who’s holding on for dear life waiting for new music then we admire your patience tenfold. If you’re a sonic connoisseur in search of the latest best flavour, then you need to ask yourself why you haven’t stopped here before.
Since the project’s inception the band have released a stunning debut EP titled To Myself, From Myself and it’s no secret that there is a whole arsenal of music still in the pipeline. Lonesome concluded their final days as a five piece on their September weekender with Cardiff lads Defeatist before indoctrinating new faces, and the opening date of the run also coincided with the Dreambound premier of their latest single ‘Inure’. A slightly more melancholy tone to its predecessor, the heavier hooks threaded through ‘To Myself, From Myself’ are replaced by a delicate touch. It’s an ambient masterpiece with uplifting emotional highs, and the fact that this is a collective of musicians that are entirely comfortable with each other’s working practice shines out in every minute of its playthrough. If ‘Inure’ has a negative, it’s the fact that it isn’t long enough. The fusion of each individual element nurtures a specific part of the bands own unique identity – and it’s important to stress that lonesome are truly unique in every right.
We sat down with the band to take a deep dive into their career so far, plans for where they’re heading and the process of creating ‘Inure’.
Leading today’s mammoth announcement are Austrian scrap punks The Chats, Wildhearts frontman Ginger Wildheart, rapidly ascending alt-grunge trio Tigercub and Welsh heroes Dream State. They will be joined alongside fellow newcomers Orchards, Phoxjaw, Blood Command, Ithaca, Delaire The Lair, CLT DRP, Cherym, Fresh and Leeched.
“2000trees Festival have been OG supporters of Tigercub”, states frontman Jamie Hall. “I remember the first time we played, I saw so many people wearing t-shirts of smaller alternative bands that I liked.. It seemed like this really was the place that people come to support upcoming music, I was proved right when I walked on stage later that afternoon as there was a full tent of people raging out of their minds to our set. This time around TC are stepping up to the mainstage and we couldn’t be more proud”
Also joining the ranks today are Roam, Kid Kapichi, Never Not Nothing, Fangclub, God Damn, The Hara, The Luka State, Witch Fever, Ditz, Dream Nails, False Advertising, ZAND, Gnarlah, Swim School, Hotel Lux, New Pagans, Ian Miles, Superlove, Heriot, Bleak Soul, Tokky Horror and last but certainly not least S.T Manville. All of these new names will be joining an already massive lineup comprised of acts such as Thrice, Jimmy Eat World, Knocked Loose, PUP, Laura Jane Grace, Bob Vylan and many more.
On today’s announcement head honcho James Scarlett states; “The best thing about my job is booking up-and-coming bands that go on to be massive. We’ve had the likes of Idles, Slaves, Creeper and Nothing But Thieves when they were very new bands and it makes me excited to think about who the next wave of headliners might be in five years’ time… I’m going for Phoxjaw, Witch Fever and ZAND!”
2000 Trees Festival 2022 takes place at it’s idyllic home of Upcote Farm, Cheltenham between the 7th – 9th July 2022. Tickets can be found here and see the full lineup thus far below.
Having released just in time for their tour with Alpha Male Tea Party, ‘Personal Space’ see’s the Manchester alt-grungers False Advertising return in fine form. The group’s first original work since the release of their LP Brainfreeze back in 2019, ‘Personal Space’ is a gritty, hooky and ultimately magnetic display of the qualities that make False Advertising just so effortlessly brilliant, to be put openly and simply. “It’s funny that ‘Personal Space’, a song originally been written about wanting to build self confidence, has now taken on a double meaning in light of the pandemic”, states singer and guitarist Jen Hingley on the track. “I’m sure everyone has felt walked over, overlooked and like you’re forever being told to take up less space and make less fuss, I’m really tired of those feelings and hoped that by sarcastically shouting about them it might go some way towards empowering myself and others to stand up for ourselves. Or, people might simply interpret the song as being about a trip to the supermarket during the pandemic and trying to maintain social distance, it works for that too!” – Dan Hillier
Featuring members of At The Gates, Disfear and The Haunted, Swedish death metallers The Lurking Fear wowed with their debut Out Of The Voiceless Grave in 2017 and have unleashed the first single from forthcoming second album Death, Madness, Horror, Decay, ‘Death Reborn’. It’s a short, sharp blast of brutality with frenetic drumming, churning riffs and urgent, barbaric vocals. Of the song, vocalist Tomas Lindberg says “’Death Reborn’ was one of the last tracks to be finished for the album. A pure old school death metal storm, that main riff just blew me away when I heard it, and I knew we had to make space for it on the A-side of the album straight away. The lyrics were quite instant as well, as the track had a certain attitude that needed to be conveyed in the lyrics as well. Still drawing main influence from the Lovecraft universe, but with an added extra aggressive twist. And, I know it is short…approx. one minute, but if you have three great riffs like these, why make it complicated.” – Will Marshall
The group’s second track with Leah Kirby at the helm, ‘They/Them’ is a vital and empowering blast of fiery punk energy that’s delivered as a raging love letter to non-binary people the world over. One part celebratory of non-binary culture and one part rallying against how non-binary people still aren’t legally recognised by the UK government, the single sees the band whipping up their home-brewed and signature ragejoy sound to once again document a topic often misunderstood and erased by the population at large. Animating the track and it’s topic further still is the track’s respective music video. Shot backstage at The Non-Binary Cabaret by film-maker Bobo Lai, the video is an inclusive invitation to the joy of non-binary freedom and see’s Leah Kirby conducting their transformation into their drag alter-ego Cyro. Great fun, but above all else, it’s critically important – Dan Hillier
Guitarist Chris Pritchard wanted to reassure us that “Blood Youth will always sound like Blood Youth. The main writers are still in the band. Harry’s taken on the task of moulding himself to us. He’s been a big Blood Youth fan from the Closure EP. He understands where we come from, our fans, and what we’re about. He doesn’t want to jar that, he wants to add to it and make it more Blood Youth. That was really refreshing.”
Their most recent album ‘Visions Of Another Hell’ which dropped October 1st via Rude Records is indicative of the new direction they want to move in – “way more fast, way more heavy, way more speed metal…complicated patterns. Starve was more groove orientated, this is more just aggressive and experimental.” With all of the tracks recorded before the departure of previous vocalist Kaya Tarsus (who parted ways with the band on good terms), the album is a fitting send off and the further end of an era, marking the closing of one chapter and the opening of another. Invariably though, they’ll wanting to be getting in the studio to make some new music with Harry soon but fans can rest assured they’re going to “make sure it doesn’t sound too different.”
