Delvoid – Swarmlife
Release Date: 29th April 2022
Label: Banditt Media
Bandcamp
Genre: Progressive Metal
FFO: Tool, A Perfect Circle, Karnivool, Caligula’s Horse.
Review By: Paul Cairney
A mere 6 years after their, critically acclaimed, previous album, Norwegian band Delvoid have released a 6 track, hour long album that invokes a myriad of emotions.
Described as having a more ‘psychedelic’ and ‘progressive’ sound, comparisons to Tool and one of Maynard James Keenan’s other bands, namely A Perfect Circle are, for once, apt. Perhaps closer to the latter band, Swarmlife finds the band ensconced in prog territory, complete with epic 10 minute plus songs, none of which outstay their welcome.
Opening track, Techtree, is nothing short of a monolithic beast. Over 10 minutes long, there are no issues with the run time as it envelops you into its gentle, hypnotic embrace, whilst gently spanking your naked bottom at a time where you will get the highest level of pleasure.
Urra is another track that hits the proverbial ‘spot,’ complete with the line ‘There’s no system to fuck’…. a nice sing-along moment. In fact, most of the tracks on Swarmlife have very enjoyable moments, almost all featuring time changes, cool riffs, and opportunities to flash the horns whilst driving down the M74 on the outskirts of Glasgow – perhaps, though, this is just me!
My only note of concern on the album is with the vocals. Whilst Alex M Delver is a very talented vocalist, occasionally his key is at odds of the heavier riffs and doesn’t quite fit.
This, however, is a very minor, and potentially personable issue that I have, and so it is probably churlish to hold this against what is a very strong album, full of enjoyable moments and well-constructed songs.
(3.5 / 5)
