Customer Reviews

The Sirens of Silence

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Swarm of the Lotus have proven themselves on their Abacus debut. When you first hear this album it will be hard to digest. The riffs are chaotic and the song structures are all over the place. It is a truly amazing piece of work. After a few listens you will come to an understanding that it has destroyed any album you have bought in a while. Songs like "Call To Abandon" and "House at the Bottom of the Sea" highlight the band's creativy and knowledge of music. Other songs like "Hookworm" and "Yan Hou" cover the heavy side of the album as they blast through your speakers. Producer Kurt Ballou (Converge) did a phenomenal job on the production. Several musical passages sound very raw and "Converge-esque." The band has all the potential to rise atop the underground metal scene. Buy this album today!

"When White Becomes Black" was a damn near perfect release, I only had a few minor complaints. Swarm of the Lotus showed that they had potential to become a great, truly unique voice in heavy music, and they live up to it with "Sirens of Silence." The album is at once chaotic yet structured and technical, with loads of killer riffs. It reminds me of Converge, which makes sense since Kurt Ballou produced it. Highly recommended.

"The Sirens Of Silence" should not be passed up. This is all that's touched my CD player for weeks. You are mangled by a wall of twisted vines and ivy and slither through the darkest of caves only to be spun out on your feet. There are trenches of emotion that will lift and bury and nothing on this album is predictable which makes for excellent extended play. It's like Neurosis,Today Is The Day and Converge battling for Earth.

I Agree one of the best heavy Albums of the year! The live show is Amazing...Go see them!

I first heard about Swarm of the Lotus when they released "When White Becomes Black" and I was so amazed by it, buyt unlike another users review, I find it to be a perfect record. It was like if you combined the sounds Isis and Mastodon together.

"The Sirens of Silence" picks-up where the first full-length left off. Now they're incorporated more of Neurosis's sound into their style, and I'm glad they were able to progress and grow as a band writing better music than before. I believe the key tracks on this record are: "Hookworm", "Yan Huo", "Snowbeast", "Vertigo", & "House at the Bottom of the Sea".

I hope that many people hear Swarm of the Lotus and see that they are one of a kind!

Of all the things I love about discovering new music, I have to rank buying an album, popping it into the deck, and then having it crush whatever expectations I had of it in my top 3.

Swarm of the Lotus' new album did not disappoint me at all. And on 'The Sirens of Silence,' they brought the heavy with them. Great songs, great riffs, odd times, stoner heaviness, a singer who screams like he's being eaten alive, etc... The label they used to try and get you to buy it read "for fans of Isis & Mastodon..." I'll agree with that statement. The Neurosis influence is prominent, but also the "southern metal" vibe is kicking too (Down, Eyehategod, Crowbar, etc...)

Kurt Ballou (Converge guitarist/producer extraordinaire) is on tap here. A little more bass in the mix would have made me smile, but I'll just have to dial it up on the car stereo. I highly recommend these guys. Enjoy.

Every once in a while, something truly new comes along. There have been a lot of good releases lately, but few have really struck me as new and original. Swarm of the Lotus are a completely different story. The best thing about them is their sound, which is one of the deepest and hugest I've ever heard. The closest comparison I can think of is maybe Neurosis with a good dose of Gorguts at their weirdest and best. Swarm of the Lotus change their style quite a bit over the course of the album, and even over the course of a number of the songs, alternating between some truly enormous doom/ sludge riffs, some fast-paced technical hardcore, and some nice quiet delicate passages. They do a good job of creating a nice atmosphere-- the cover art really says it all-- dark, merky and weird. There are some really nice touches on here, including what sounds like an African or Caribbean guitar riff at the start of one of the songs. I don't usually like sludge or doom, but these guys have such an original sound that I can't help but be overwhelmed and captivated. The vocals are truly scary, too, which is pretty rare. Best heavy release of 2005, IMO.

This is the second time I've ever bought a CD without hearing a note of the music before (the first time being Dillinger Escape Plans debut). I went off buzz. I will say that this is a good album for fans of the more agressive sides of Isis, Neurosis and Mastodon. I wasn't entirely impressed until the sixth song, then I finally got what I wanted (which was to be blown out of my seat).