A few questions - interview with death metal band from Estonia

A few questions - interview with death metal band from Estonia - SWARN.

Answered Tiit (guitars, bass) and Anti (vocals), thank you!

Ave, can you introduce your band to our readers? – When was it founded and what style of music do you play etc.?

Greetings from the cold and caliginous north! We are SWARN and we play dream-infested hallucinatory death metal! The band was formed in 2016 so quite a while back now. Since then we have released two full-length albums and a whole lot of EP-s and singles. In other words, we like to keep ourselves very busy...

Where and under what conditions were you recording the new album? Who was in charge of sound, production and mastering?

Our new album "Whispers from beyond" was actually recorded in several places. In "PERGERUS"(our main lair and last sanctuary) and In "Northern Terror Studios".

We always record and mix everything ourselves. To us it's a natural way of doing things. It gives us full control over our own sound production. Everything soundwise is thought through and nothing is random. The sound is everything! When we record there is always a sense of magic in the air...it's hard to describe but it feels as tho the stars are right. We often use rituals and other means of strange meditations to get in the spirit to start recording...It's best not to talk about it too much. Incantations...black stars and beyond...

How many copies were released and which medium was used for this new edition (CD, digital, vinyl, cassette)?

"Whispers From Beyond" is out on LP, Cassette and in CD format. 100 red and 100 black gatefold LP's.Some LP's are signed by us. There is also 50 hand nr. tapes and some cool digipack CD's aswell.

We are lucky that our town has vinyl pressing plant...we did not have to wait a year....only few months! In the future we plan to release some 7' vinyls as well...

Who is the author of the lyrics and how were they created and about what do the lyrics deal with?

The lyrics are mostly written by the vocalist Anti. The world is full of inspiration, both from visible and invisible spheres, and Swarn has always paid an utmost attention to the occult which entwines together the physical and metaphysical. Traditionally Mr. H. P. Lovecraft’s works have had a strong impact on our works (including the musical and visual landscapes that Tiit creates for the band) but the fountain we drink from gathers waters from different sediments – historical scripts, ethnographic observations, even contemporary social processes. They all have a common denominator in the unknown that has always surrounded us.

Humans have also always tried to understand it – or at least give it a name (which pretty much means the same) – although with poor results. Of course, there are people who even attempt to gain some control over the aforementioned unknown but we in the band strongly hold the belief that it can be extremely dangerous. To be honest, even writing the lyrics for Swarn may not be entirely safe but we do not know the true effects of this to be entirely sure. The first songs of the album texts are written during 2019 and 2020 and the epic named „Abysmal Hallucinations“ in the gloomy autumn of 2021.

Every text is a descendant of its time and place but also reflects the universal unknown which stands beyound our narrow understanding of existence.

Who created the logo of the band, and who took care of the graphics and the website? What about you and social networks? Do you consider these things important?

Our current logo was created by our good friend "Skadvaldur" (IG:skadvaldur). He also did illustrations for our 2022 t-shirt "Tarbathian Deathcult" He is amazing and talented artist!

He also have some new graphics in the works for us at the moment. It's always joy to work with him! Our new LP illustrations was done by Tiit Pähnapuu (IG tektiit).

He has also done t-shirt illustrations and some EP graphics as well.

Which label did you choose for releasing your album and why this label? Are you satisfied by how your label represents you and takés care about you?

The album is a joint release of Warhorn Records (CD, Vinyl), Stuka Sound (Cassette) and Guano Records (Vinyl), all local Estonian labels that we have close contacts with. Warhorn Records has published Swarn creations before (EP „Abysmal Hallucinations“ in the autumn of 2021, for example) and they have been really dedicated in promoting extreme underground music among the followers of the voices of the dark.

Stuka and Guano are both legendary names that have given many memorable moments to the course of the small Estonian metal scene. It is an honour to continue the line of inheritance and we hope that our cooperation will only continue in the future.

Which bands do you idolise and where do you get your inspiration?

The world possess a myriad of bands and musicians who can feel the flow of the sounds to the almost godly level and it does not matter which concrete styles and genres they practice.

The most recent discovery of Anti comes entirely outside of the metal spheres – an Estonian band Triskele that is devoted to the Christian Folk Choral. The way they dive into the music they make is simply exceptional. About the texts – very often only few words are needed to say it all, at the same time they leave enough room for several interpretation. For example, the legendary Estonian black metal band Kalm used to have really fine-tuned lyrics.

Did you send your record to some Labels - which are the labels? How was the response?

We are in contact with few good labes and there are ideas and plans for the future!

We have a few good and very close friends who run their own labels in our town so we all teamed up and decided to make things happen. Our previous full-length album did come out via "Redefining Darkness Records" Cheers Thomas!

And "Raw Skull Recordz" Cheers Rai! They release only killer stuff and both of them are amazing guys! Our current LP, MC and CD will be out via "Warhorn Records" and "Guano Records".

How many gigs have you played? Which type of gigs do you prefer, whether it's (clubs or festivals) and which of your performances would you consider as the best?

Since we are in a lot of other bands and we have very little time on our hands, we tend to play very little shows. It's also more special when it happens. Again the stars have to be right...It's a special occasion for us!

We like to play in smaller venues. It's more prersonal and up-front that way. We like to feel more connected to the maniacs and others minds alike.

What about your plans for the future? What do you want to achieve with the band?

We surely need to continue giving birth to our frantic creation – given that fate will be on our side. It is appropriate to state that adding chapters to the library of venomous hymns is our call.

Maybe we will dig slightly deeper and maybe we will meet our doom in a process. Probably it is not a safe road after all.

How and where can your fans contact you? Can you provide some contact information?

If you want to contact us or to get in touch you can choose the following:

Email: tpahnapuu@gmail.com

Instagram:swarn.death

FB:facebook.com/Swarndeath

-------------

swarn.bandcamp.com/releases

warhorn.bandcamp.com/album/whispers-from-beyond

-------------

Thanx for the interview.

Eternail hails to Deadly storm zine!