A few years after the compilation “Chamber”, UK’s Cold Spring Records now comes with a new label sampler. Perhaps the growth of the label is symbolized by the fact that we are now treated to a double cd. Swarm gathers 22 artist who released or will release material on Cold Spring. And the good news is that all tracks were recorded specifically for this collection.

‘Swarm’ has a very bombastic start, with a powerful marching track by Kreuzweg Ost. It is followed by a very intriguing mournful soundscape by Andrew Liles, after which Shinjulu Thief offers a live version of “Sacred thief” with incredibly heavy pounding drums and symphonic music. These are also my favourites on disc one, which also includes some dense noisy stuff by Merzbow/Nordvargr, Clear Stream Temple and Deadwood, filmic ambient by Fredrik Klingwall and Necropolis, avantgarde stuff by John Watermann and Zos Kia and a folky neo-classical hymn by Bleiburg.

New talent Sistrenatus opens the second disc with a slow and heavy martial piece that makes me curious for their upcoming debut. Further we can expect some solid drone ambient by Sleep Research Facility and Schloss Tegal, good noisy stuff by Goatvargr, deep soundscapes by Tenhornedbeast and Band of Pain and an elegant neo-classical piece by A Challenge of Honour. The folky songs by Von Thronstahl and Werkraum do not belong to their most essential work, the martial hymn by Kriegsfall-U is a bit too bombastic for me. A surprising ending to the cd is HERR’s ‘Stalingrad’, a catchy melodic folk song with a clear 60’s feel.

Not every track on “Swarm” is a direct hightlight, but this friendly priced compilation certainly offers good value for money from one of the most interesting labels.

Author: HD. Published on: Monday, September 4th, 2006.
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