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Swarm of Flies: New Project Brings Together Members of Eternal Black, Shadow Witch, Thunderbird Divine and More

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 13th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

swarm of flies group maa

If idle hands are the devil’s workshop, then I guess we’re casting Eternal Black‘s Ken Wohlrob out of paradise — such as it is — this week. The guitarist/vocalist from the Brooklynite doom trio — also of the more hardcore-driven End of Hope is working toward assembling a rotating cast of misfits and ne’er-do-wells that includes familiar faces from the Northeastern Corridor like Erik Caplan from Philly’s Thunderbird Divine and Earl Walker Lundy from Shadow Witch, among a host of others that is still growing.

The project is called, somewhat self-effacingly, Swarm of Flies, and along with Davis Zaius and fellow End of Hope member David Richman, as well of course as Wohlrob himself at the helm of the riffs, the drive here is obviously to collaborate with others in a way that, during “normal” times, probably wouldn’t happen just for the sheer logistics of getting people in the same room, but that now seems all the more possible precisely because there’s no alternative.

Swarm of Flies‘ first single, which boasts Lundy‘s vocal contribution, is called “Mine All Along.” I don’t know what the longterm plan is, whether these singles will eventually add up to an album or what, but It’s a cool idea manifest in at least one killer tune so far, so well worth sharing as far as I’m concerned. You’ll find “Mine All Along” at the bottom of this post, and Wohlrob offers the particulars on Swarm of Flies below.

Dive in:

Swarm of Flies Mine All Along

Members of Eternal Black, Shadow Witch, End of Hope, Witch Taint, St. Bastard, Reign of Zaius, Thunderbird Divine, and Clamfight join forces as Swarm of Flies to release new music during the coronavirus pandemic. The first single, “Mine All Along,” is available now.

A few words from Ken Wohlrob (Eternal Black, End of Hope):

What?

Swarm of Flies is a new collaborative musical group. The goal is to continue to release new music during the coronavirus pandemic while our other bands are on hiatus. So far, the group includes members of Eternal Black, Shadow Witch, End of Hope, Witch Taint, St. Bastard, Reign of Zaius, Thunderbird Divine, and Clamfight. Our first single, “Mine All Along,” is now available as a name-your-price download on our Bandcamp page (swarmofflies.bandcamp.com) and is also available via online streaming services including Spotify and Apple Music. We will release each new song as it is ready. Every song will feature different musicians or new members who have joined the fold.

Why?

As the world ground to a halt, I didn’t want to stop making music. Even though my other bands were sidelined temporarily, I still wanted to find a way to release new music. The more I thought about it, the more I saw it as an opportunity to change the whole damn approach. Not only the type of music I made, but how it was created -— play different styles, play different guitars, hell, play different instruments. And why not get some friends involved, including people I admired from bands that I was lucky enough to share a bill with at one time or another? Once we started sending files back and forth and everyone kept adding their own layers, it got really interesting. I think people who know us will be surprised by what they hear.

Who?

Here is who has jumped on board so far:
Earl Walker Lundy from Shadow Witch
David Richman from Witch Taint, St. Bastard, and End of Hope
Davis Schlachter from Reign of Zaius, Clothesline, and End of Hope
Erik Caplan from Thunderbird Divine
Andy Martin from Clamfight
Joe Kelly and Kol Marshall of Suburban Elvis Studios will be mixing and mastering
And myself (if you don’t know who I am) from Eternal Black and End of Hope

The Song

The first single, “Mine All Along,” features Earl Walker Lundy on vocals, Davis Schlachter on bass and keyboards, Dave Richman on drums, and myself on guitar. The sound is more akin to Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. I think Earl’s vocal performance is spectacular. For my money, he’s one of the most dynamic frontmen in heavy music and he’s got so much soul in his voice. Dave Richman is a rock. He anchors any band he plays in. Songs rise to a whole new level once he’s added his parts. Davis is the utility player. He can play so many different instruments and so many different styles. But his sense of what works for a song is always spot on.

What’s Next?

The next single, “The Jaunt,” will feature Andy Martin (Clamfight) on vocals, Erik Caplan (Thunderbird Divine) on vocals, guitars, drone noises, and other strange contraptions, Davis Schlachter on bass and keyboards, and myself on guitar, Moog, and programming. It’s out there. Way out there.

More music soon…

https://swarmofflies.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/swarmoffliesband

Swarm of Flies, “Mine All Along”

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