Interview with SWARM EFFECT

Metalheads, please welcome Swarm Effect! The Ukrainian duo has just released its debut album, “Cotard’s Syndrome”, which will rip your brains apart. Swarm Effect plays exemplary death metal, and with this first album, they are quickly making their mark on the international extreme metal map. Myth of Rock spoke with the two musicians, Ilya Shapovalov (vocals) and Denys Burlaka (guitars), who introduced us to the world of Swarm Effect.

by Dimitris Zacharopoulos

Can you tell us how Swarm Effect first came together, and what brought you both to pursue this musical direction?

It was ten years ago. We had a full band, rehearsals, gigs, etc. We played a few covers of Six Feet Under and decided to play a style similar to death metal.

What’s the story behind the band’s name, Swarm Effect? How does it relate to your sound or themes?

Swarm Effect reflects the chaotic nature of existence. We chose the name because we wanted to convey a sense of overwhelming force like a swarm of ideas, thoughts, and emotions crashing into the listener all at once.

Cotard’s syndrome itself is a rare mental disorder, but how does it serve as a symbol or theme for your album? Why was it chosen as the title?

The title, Cotard’s Syndrome, is based on a rare mental illness where the person believes they’re dead or don’t exist, which perfectly ties into the album’s exploration of themes like inner demons, addiction, the loss of agency, societal corruption, and existential dread. We wanted the album to feel like a descent into a personal and collective hell but with glimpses of human resilience in facing inevitable destruction.

For people who haven’t yet experienced Swarm Effect, how would you describe your music, and what do you hope it brings to the world of metal?

The album reflects dark, existential themes, with each track delving into a different form of psychological or societal problems. In 2024 it is probably difficult to bring something new to music, but we hope each listener will receive an emotional response from the music.

Could you take us through your songwriting process? How did the album’s music and lyrics come together? What was the most challenging song on the album to compose or record?

As usual, we wrote this way, we wrote a raw demo, then corrected the structure, when the final demo was ready Illya would record a vocal. The most difficult song was “Echoes of Eternity”.

Swarm Effect’s sound blends furious riffs, frenetic drums and groovy elements. What are your main influences?

For music, there was a lot of influence from Morbid Angel. Bands like Death, Gojira, Carcass and Behemoth have an impact on us in general.

How did the two of you split roles in terms of songwriting, arrangement and production? Was it a fully collaborative effort?

Of course, songwriting is a fully collaborative effort. We arrange a song till we are satisfied with how the song sounds. Mixing/mastering was done by Denys Burlaka.

Denys, your guitar work is powerful and unique—how do you approach creating the distinct guitar sound that drives Swarm Effect?

As usual, I play with the settings for my tube amps and sometimes you may randomly find a guitar tone you would like. For this album we intentionally made a raw sound, it was a part of conception, mid tempo riffs, raw tone with low-tuned guitars.

Ilya, your vocals bring out an incredible rawness in each track. How did you develop your vocal style, and what’s your approach to delivering such raw lyrics?

As for the vocals, it’s just practice and experimentation. I experimented and looked for the right sound, and once I found it, I work on improving it. As for the lyrics, it comes naturally, there was almost no time when I squeezed the lyrics out of myself. The lyrics of each track represent personal thoughts, experiences and emotions and they were born practically by themselves at certain moments in time, when some events prompted me to this topic.

Ukraine has a unique underground metal scene. How has being from Ukraine shaped your music, if at all? What’s it like creating this kind of music in your country?

The style we play is not so popular compared with pop music. But Ukraine has a large community of metalheads. What about inspiration, we think 1914 and White Ward are good examples of metal bands you have to look up to.

Who produced the album, and what was the recording process like? Did you face any unexpected hurdles during production?

It was a self-release, all work with production was made by Denys Burlaka. The main issue was that we are in different countries and sometimes it can take a lot of time to solve problems. For example when you need to record additional takes. Simpler way is to make records together in one room, but now, unfortunately, we can’t.

What kind of atmosphere or emotion do you want listeners to feel when they hear “Cotard’s Syndrome”?

This album provides a dark mood, and it also reflects the lyrics.

As a new band, what was the most surprising reaction you’ve received to your debut album so far?

A lot of people were surprised that on the album we have a highly experienced drummer – Krzysztof Klingbein.

Now that “Cotard’s Syndrome” is out, how do you feel about it? Is there anything you’d like to explore or change in future projects?

We are totally satisfied with how it sounds. We did what we wanted.

What’s next for Swarm Effect? Any plans for live performances, touring, or new music in the near future?

For the next release, we prepared a new single, and we may say that it will be something different from “Cotard’s Syndrome”. Due to the situation in Ukraine unfortunately we can’t be touring.

How has the war in Ukraine affected you as persons, musicians and band?

War is a terrible thing, and when you see this in your native town it brings a tone of negative emotion. War affects the life of everyone. But we believe that in future everything will be ok and we may get back to our normal life.

Your message to the readers!

Thanks for your attention, we hope you liked the album “Cotard’s Syndrome” and you got the emotional response you wanted. Every listener or viewer on YouTube is our support. We appreciate every bit of it.

Official Links

▶Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5RcvX…

▶Apple Music: / swarm-effect