Swamp Coffin: Drowning In Glory
A heart-on-sleeve level of honesty and often brutalist approach to emotional conveyance. That is the core of SWAMP COFFIN. For those that have followed the Rotherham trio since their EP release Flat Cap Bastard Features, there has been an intensity and candid approach to their music. This has been borne out of trials and tribulations that would shake any individual and certainly give pause to a band’s creative process.
It is testament to their collective spirit that SWAMP COFFIN have not only been able to continuously create new and exciting music but also directly channel their experiences into a musical catharsis that audiences can latch onto. Even if the experiences don’t necessarily relate to their own. In light of the upcoming and highly anticipated release of Drowning Glory. The follow album to 2021’s widely lauded Noose Almighty we sat down with lead singer and lyricist Jon Rhodes to discuss all things, SWAMP COFFIN.
Personal tragedies and events seemed to have dogged the band from their earliest recordings. Especially as Jon explains when it came to the release of Noose Almighty. “There was stuff in the background that no one knew about, it knocked us for six and I wasn’t in the mood to write after Noose Almighty came out. When you’re sad, grieving and trying to help out a friend, it’s not conducive to writing heavy stuff. It took until late 2022 that we thought we could go again.”
It’s clear that the events and emotions are still fresh yet Jon is straight talking and doesn’t want to shy away from any of the circumstances. This is something that has evidently spilled over into the work on Drowning Glory, it’s still got all the heavy weight intensity of its predecessor, yet it feels enhanced. Jon explains when discussing the early stages of the album. “I think back and go, I’m not over the stuff that caused us to write Noose Almighty, I’m not over the stuff that happened after Noose Almighty, everything is ramped up, it’s like Noose Almighty but on steroids. The lyrics are more pissed off, I think the lyrics are some of the best that I’ve ever done.”
With emotional integrity at the heart of what they do. There is still room for a healthy dose of humour and banter between themselves and something that they can project outwards as well. “It’s the gallows humour thing, we spend three hours at rehearsals with each other just openly taking the piss out of each other,” Jon explains. This jocular side comes out in their song titles too. Track lists reveal plenty of puns that catch the eye, who wouldn’t crack a smile at song titles such as Last Of The Summer Slime, Barbarian Windsor the latter with an accompanying grin inducing long sleeve. SWAMP COFFIN are keen to show that it’s not all doom and gloom.
“We’re not miserable people, the music is miserable [laughs]! The music is serious but there’s enough serious bands out there, that maybe take themselves too seriously. We don’t want to be another one of those, you don’t do a world’s slowest wall of death and take yourselves seriously” With a laugh Jon references one of the unique aspects of a SWAMP COFFIN show. For those that have experienced it, a live show encompasses twenty-five minutes of wall-to-wall riffs and then for the close the trio encourage the audience to participate in the what has been dubbed the worlds slowest wall of death. A sight to behold, as Jon describes with a wide grin “…when you’re watching 50 people slowly windmilling towards each other, the amount of times we just burst out laughing.”
For those that are anticipating this new record based off past releases, will not be disappointed. Drowning Glory is a triumph illustrating how far SWAMP COFFIN have come as a band, overcoming a tide of uncertainty and genuine tragedy. The effort that has gone into the work, as Jon alludes to with regards to the lyrics and the overall creative process has been richly rewarded with an album of stellar proportions. A work of true catharsis that will no doubt go down a storm with live audiences and instigate a bigger worlds slowest wall of death. As a final thought, “we’re so open, there’s no mystique or mystery about this band. We like hardcore and we’re trying to put more of that into our work. We’re not a stoner doom band. I don’t know what we are anymore. Just three confused blokes trying to figure out our sound. We’re also the sort of band that if anyone wants to contact us and ask stuff, we’re open to it, no secrets.”
While they may see themselves as a bit confused regarding their sound, they’ve certainly developed an identity all of their own that many people are responding to. The integrity and passion are raw and impossible to fake. With a dark humour formed out of a bond of friends overcoming adversity and songs that resonate with many for different reasons, be sure to catch SWAMP COFFIN while they’re on this ascendency and enjoy the journey.
Drowning Glory is out now via APF Records.
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